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A division of Blackstone Group, the world’s largest asset manager, is paying $6.7 billion to buy QTS Realty Trust, which operates data centers, and take it private, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Blackstone Infrastructure Partners will pay $78 a share for QTS, more than 20 percent above the stock’s recent closing price.
When Blackstone assumes QTS’s debt, Blackstone will commit about $10 billion to the deal.
QTS owns more than seven million square feet of data-center space in 28 sites across Europe and North America. Its customers include social media companies, large online retailers, and government agencies.
Blackstone has been investing heavily in economic sectors predicted to do well as the world recovers from 2020’s crash.
TRENDPOST: In our 23 March issue this year, we reported that Blackstone and a partner had bought the Extended Stay America hotel chain; in our 27 April edition, we noted that Blackstone was poised to become a major player in India’s warehousing industry as the country begins to expand online shopping.
Private equity firms and other Bigs, such as Amazon and Walmart, thrived during the global economic collapse while smaller businesses disappeared along with their owners’ life savings.
Walmart and Amazon are now venturing into health care; Amazon’s new “Sidewalk” wireless network automatically enrolled millions of Amazon device owners and is able to gather data about where you go, what you watch online, and your other personal business.
We said it in our 25 May issue this year (“Bigs Get Bigger, Mom and Pops Go Bust”) and it remains true: the few Bigs will continue to gain financial and political power and extend their dominance through all areas of our lives.