Digital Realty to buy Alexandria VC firm founded by Warner

Digital Realty, a Texas-based data center operator and real estate investment trust, announced this week that it plans to acquire Alexandria venture capital firm Columbia Capital in a deal that could be worth up to $775 million.

Although he has not been with the firm for more than two decades, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner founded Columbia Capital in 1989. Through the company, he invested in and helped start several tech companies, including Nextel, and became worth more than $200 million.

Focused on communications, technology and digital infrastructure investments, Columbia Capital has raised more than $9 billion in commitments from hundreds of investors, including sovereign wealth funds, pension funds, insurance companies, endowments and other institutional investors.

According to a Tuesday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Digital Realty will initially pay approximately $485 million for Columbia Capital, including $45 million in cash and roughly 2.3 million shares of common stock. The deal also includes up to an additional $290 million in cash or, at Digital Realty’s option, 1.46 million additional shares if certain performance milestones are met. Digital Realty owns, operates and invests in carrier-neutral data centers worldwide.

Digital Realty said the Columbia Capital acquisition will expand its investment expertise and exposure to adjacent digital infrastructure sectors as demand for AI-related infrastructure grows. It was not immediately clear how many employees Digital Realty would gain through the acquisition, whether Columbia Capital would continue operating from Alexandria or whether any leadership changes are planned. Neither company immediately returned requests for comment Thursday.

Columbia Capital and Digital Realty have previously collaborated on digital infrastructure projects, including Teraco, a South African data center company, and Vela Infrastructure, a subsea cable landing station developer.

“Our history of collaboration with Columbia Capital reflects a shared long-term perspective while providing additional flexibility to support the scaling of both our hyperscale development pipeline and our private capital platform,” Digital Realty President and CEO Andy Power said in a statement.

The agreement was signed on May 8, and the deal is slated to close in the second half of the year.