Gabriel Silva

Simpson Thacher represented DigitalBridge Group, Inc. (NYSE: DBRG) and its portfolio company Scala Data Centers in connection with a $500 million structured financing round in Scala Data Centers. The investment includes US$250 million from Coatue Tactical Solutions and US$250 million from the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario - IMCO. The investments are intended to accelerate and extend Scala’s strategic capabilities to partner with global hyperscalers in meeting unprecedented cloud and AI demand. The structured financing was subsequently upsized by an additional US$25 million.~~Scala Data Centers is a leading global provider of hyperscale data center campuses in Latin America. Scala powers, cools, protects and connects the technology of the world’s well-known hyperscalers, cloud providers and large enterprises.~~DigitalBridge is a leading global alternative asset manager dedicated to investing in digital infrastructure. With a heritage of over 25 years investing in and operating businesses across the digital ecosystem, including cell towers, data centers, fiber, small cells and edge infrastructure, the DigitalBridge team manages over $80 billion of infrastructure assets on behalf of its limited partners and shareholders.~~The Simpson Thacher team includes Gabriel Silva, Shamus Crosby, Gabriela Astolphi, Isabella Correa and Larissa Gebrim (M&A); Andrew Purcell and Brian Mendick (Tax); Peter Guryan and Jamie Logie (Antitrust); Lori Lesser and Ron Ben-Yehuda (IP and Privacy).

Sep 24

1 min

Simpson Thacher was recognized in multiple categories at TMT Finance's M&A USA Awards 2024. The Firm was named "Legal Advisory Trailblazer" and was also named "Digital Infrastructure Legal Advisor (Value)" for having advised on the most digital infrastructure deals by value over the past year. Additionally, the Firm was recognized in several "Deal of the Year" categories, including "Towers Deal of the Year," "Digital Infrastructure Mid-Market Deal of the Year" and "Fiber Deal of the Year." Energy and Infrastructure Partner Gabriel Silva was also named a finalist for "Lawyer of the Year."~~Held annually, the TMT M&A Awards USA recognize the leading advisors, investors and dealmakers in digital infrastructure. To learn more, and to view the full list of winners, please click here.

Sep 30

1 min

Real Estate Partner Scott Kobak and Energy and Infrastructure Partner Gabriel Silva were featured in a Bloomberg Q&A titled, “Simpson Thacher Lawyers See No Slowdown in Private Equity’s Demand For Data Centers.” The article highlighted the rise of data centers and how this trend is expected to continue. Scott explained, “Data centers is probably the first sector where I don't hear a whisper of 'are people getting too optimistic?' There's so much confidence in the demand side of this that it's really the supply side that's the challenge. There are a lot of barriers to entry. Developing a new data center takes extreme expertise as well as large sums of capital.” When speaking to why there is such a focus on data centers now, Gabriel further noted that, “The No.1 driver of growth in data centers is the mass adoption of next generation technologies like AI and machine learning. These new technologies require materially more computing power than traditional workloads because of their high density computing. This results in demand for density and power being very high, but such technologies are less attached to top-tier locations and are pushing workloads and demand for power to tier-two and tier-three markets”.~~To read the full Q&A, please click here (subscription may be required).

Dec 7

1 min

Simpson Thacher is representing funds and investment vehicles managed by affiliates of DigitalBridge Group, Inc. in connection with a $3.3 billion tower transaction between DBRG’s portfolio company Vertical Bridge REIT LLC ("Vertical Bridge") and Verizon Communications Inc. Under the transaction, Vertical Bridge will obtain the exclusive rights to lease, operate and manage 6,339 wireless communications towers across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. from subsidiaries of Verizon for approximately $3.3 billion, including certain commercial benefits. The transaction is structured as a prepaid lease with upfront proceeds of approximately $2.8 billion in cash. Closing is subject to customary closing conditions.~~DigitalBridge, a leading global alternative asset manager dedicated to investing in digital infrastructure, is the co-founder and majority owner of Vertical Bridge, and has committed capital to support the transaction. CDPQ, a global investment group and an important shareholder of Vertical Bridge since 2019, also committed capital to finance this transaction.~~The Simpson Thacher team includes Gabriel Silva, Keegan Lopez and Gabriela Astolphi (M&A); Parker Kelsey and Nick Brown (Funds); Brian Gluck, Michael Ratay, Constantine Valettas and Jackie Song (Financing); Andrew Purcell and Brian Mendick (Tax).

Sep 30

1 min