Source: Mawson Infrastructure Group

Mawson Infrastructure Group Inc. (NASDAQ:MIGI) (“Mawson”), a digital infrastructure provider, is pleased to announce financial highlights and financial results, for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2021.

James Manning, CEO and Founder of Mawson Infrastructure, said, “FY 2021 was a transformational year for our business. We significantly increased our Bitcoin self-mining operational footprint, producing a record 808 Bitcoin, increased revenue 886% to $43.9 million, increased our gross profit 2526% to $34.0 million, and posted a record $17.9 million of non-GAAP EBITDA.

We also successfully launched our Luna Squares hosting co-location business, signed a new large-scale facility in Midland, Pennsylvania and materially expanded the size of our Sandersville, Georgia Bitcoin mining facility. We also launched our first Australian facility in 2021 as well as listing on the Nasdaq late in Q3.

The Mawson team have put in a phenomenal effort these past 12 months and for that I am very grateful. We enter 2022 with a large bitcoin self-mining business, and a large scale hosting co-location business and I’m very excited for what 2022 has in store.”

Q4 2021 Financial and Business Highlights

• Revenue of $19.6 million compared to $10.9 million in Q3 2021, up 79%
• Gross profit of $16.0 million, compared to $8.4 million in Q3 2021, up 89%
• Non-GAAP EBITDA of $10.0 million, compared to $3.3 million in Q3 2021, up 203%
• Record 0.83 Exahash online reached on 22^nd December 2021
• Stage 2 of 100 megawatt expansion at Georgia Bitcoin mining facility ongoing
• First Australian Bitcoin mining facility operational, in partnership with Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners
• Purchased an additional 4,000 latest generation ASIC bitcoin miners
• Mawson’s Luna Squares LLC hosting co-location business, utilizing the company’s Modular Data Centre (MDC) technology continues to expand
• Mawson joins the Bitcoin Mining Council
• Cosmos Asset Management launches ‘DIGA’ – The Cosmos Global Digital Miners Access ETF in Australia

About Mawson Infrastructure

Mawson Infrastructure Group (NASDAQ: MIGI) is a digital infrastructure provider, with multiple operations throughout the USA and Australia. Mawson’s vertically integrated model is based on a long-term strategy to promote the global transition to the new digital economy. Mawson matches sustainable energy infrastructure with next-generation mobile data centre (MDC) solutions, enabling low-cost Bitcoin production and on-demand deployment of infrastructure assets. With a strong focus on shareholder returns and an aligned board and management, Mawson Infrastructure Group is emerging as a global leader in ESG focused Bitcoin mining and digital infrastructure.

For more information, visit: www.mawsoninc.com

Source: Phoenix Tower International

March 21, 2022

Phoenix Tower International (“PTI”) today announced that it has completed a definitive agreement — subject to the French Competition Authority (“FCA”) approval — with Cellnex Telecom to acquire 1,226 telecommunications sites in very dense areas in France adding SFR as a second major MNO client of PTI in France. Simultaneously, PTI with its Joint Venture Partner Bouygues Telecom will be acquiring 2,000 sites in very dense areas.  Both transactions relate to the French Competition Authority remedies that followed Cellnex’ acquisition of Hivory last year. 

With these latest transactions along with its previously announced build program with Bouygues Telecom, PTI will own and operate over 5,000 sites in France in the coming years making it one of the largest independent wireless infrastructure providers in the country.

“With these transactions and our recent closing of more towers in the French West Indies, PTI expands its presence in France, one of the most dynamic telecom markets in Europe. PTI’s growth will continue facilitating coverage deployments for all French wireless operators across the country. We are pleased to have collaborated with the professionals at Cellnex on this transaction.” stated Dagan Kasavana, CEO of PTI.

“These various transactions continue to strengthen PTI’s commitment to France and the European Market.  We are excited to enhance our relationship with Bouygues Telecom and expand the independent tower model in France which will be a catalyst for improved coverage for all carriers” said Tim Culver, Executive Chairman of PTI.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Natixis acted as advisors to PTI. Herbert Smith Freehills acted as Cellnex advisors.

About Phoenix Tower International

PTI, through its subsidiaries, will, pro forma for these transactions, own and operate over 18,000 telecom towers throughout Europe, the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean. In Europe, PTI is present in several countries including France, Italy, Ireland, Malta and Cyprus.

PTI was founded in 2013 with a mission to be a premier site provider to wireless operators across the world in high-growth markets. PTI’s investors include funds managed by Blackstone and various members of the management team and is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida. For more information, please visit www.phoenixintnl.com

About Cellnex Telecom

Cellnex manages a portfolio of more than 130,000 sites —including forecast roll-outs up to 2030— in Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal, Austria, Denmark, Sweden and Poland. Cellnex’s business is structured in four major areas: telecommunication infrastructures services; audiovisual broadcasting networks; security and emergency service networks and solutions for smart urban infrastructure and services management. The company is listed on the continuous market of the Spanish stock exchange and is part of the selective IBEX 35 and EuroStoxx 100 indices. For more information: www.cellnex.com

Source: The Financial Review

HRL Morrison & Co, the investment group that has made a $3 billion bid for broadband services company Uniti, has described the digital industry as a “critical building block of society” as it snaps up more assets.

Morrison & Co’s chief investment officer, William Smales, told investors in Infratil – the firm’s listed infrastructure group – last month that digital services were becoming essential to every facet of modern life, from entertainment to banking to transport.

Assets targeted by Infratil include data centres, integrated telecommunications companies, mobile towers, wireline networks, subsea cables, satellites and small cell networks.

Mr Smales argued that demand for data networks would continue to increase as organisations shift information off worksites onto cloud infrastructure, partially for security but also so that they can share information easily, and consumers use more technology in their daily life.

Data centres are considered to be valuable assets because they typically have long-term contracts with customers and are expensive to set up.

If the Uniti takeover bid is successful, it will strengthen Morrison & Co’s foothold in digital infrastructure. The investment group has already acquired a 49.9 per cent stake in Vodafone New Zealand, as well as a 49 per cent share of Amplitel, the rebranded Telstra InfraCo Towers business. Amplitel is the biggest mobile tower provider in Australia with some 8200 towers.

RELATED QUOTES

UWLUniti Wireless

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It also owns most of Canberra-headquartered CDC Data Centres, has a 40 per cent stake in the UK’s Kao Data Centres and has taken a 72.5 per cent interest in the Netherlands’ Fore Freedom, which develops and operates fibre-to-the-premises networks.

Other big investment funds like QIC are also prioritising investment in digital infrastructure, with the Queensland investment group singling out “real assets” as increasingly important as inflation rises.

The cash flows of infrastructure assets typically improve as inflation increases because regulated asset operating arrangements usually allow for higher returns when consumer price indexes go up.

Australia’s NAB has estimated that global private investment in digital infrastructure and telecoms has grown rapidly from less than $US1 billion in 2010 to more than $US90 billion ($118 billion) a year.

Meanwhile, Macquarie Capital, which is also making substantial investments in data centre groups like AirTrunk, has argued that infrastructure is increasingly being considered as an asset that enables the movement of data, not just the movement of people.

Uniti will hold exclusive talks with Morrison & Co until late April after the investment group made an indicative takeover offer of $4.50 in cash per share.

The takeover target said on Tuesday that shareholders should not take any action on the proposal and that it would update investors “in due course”.

Analysts had been optimistic about Uniti’s financial outlook before the takeover bid was announced on Tuesday. Bell Potter released a research note on Uniti on Monday with a 12-month price target of $4.50 and a buy recommendation, but has not forecast any dividend payments over the next three years.

Bell Potter analyst Chris Savage said Uniti aimed to provide an alternative to the NBN but cautioned it is facing competition from alternative suppliers of broadband internet connectivity services, including resellers of NBN and mobile operators delivering 4G cellular services and eventually 5G services.

Source: PR Newswire

Audax Private Equity (“Audax”) announced today that it has acquired a controlling interest in Centerline Communications LLC (“Centerline”), a leading professional services organization focused on the design, build, and maintenance of wireless and wireline network infrastructure from Wincove Private Holdings, LP (“Wincove”) and Stone-Goff Partners (“Stone-Goff”). This transaction took place in August 2021 and terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Josh Delman, Founder and CEO of Centerline, will continue to lead the company alongside the existing management team. Josh and Wincove will maintain minority ownership positions in the company alongside Audax.

The investment will support Centerline’s continued organic and acquisition growth as it pursues its mission to grow its national footprint and further expand its scope of services focused on the development and maintenance of critical network infrastructure.

Since Audax’ initial investment, Centerline has completed three acquisitions that have helped expand the company’s geographic coverage and range of service offerings: Maicom LLC (“Maicom”), which closed in August 2021; P. Marshall & Associates (“PM&A”), which closed in December 2021; and J5 Infrastructure Partners (“J5”), which closed in December 2021.

Maicom is a critical infrastructure focused services organization based in North Andover, MA, that provides critical infrastructure installation and maintenance for major multiple-system operators (“MSO’s”) throughout the United States and Canada in support of their networks. Centerline acquired Maicom from the Boston-based investment firm, Heritage Holding.

PM&A is an engineering, real estate, and construction management organization based in Atlanta, GA that provides professional services to national wireless operators and major infrastructure owners throughout the southeast and gulf coast of the United States.

J5, based out of Irvine, CA, is a real-estate, construction management, and engineering firm supporting national wireless operators and several national and regional broadband providers throughout the western United States. Centerline acquired J5 from Raleigh-based investment firm, Ridgemont Equity Partners. The founders of each business (Paul Maiuri from Maicom, Patrick Marshall from PM&A, and John Barker from J5) and their respective management teams are planning to remain with the combined platform. With these strategic acquisitions, the Centerline platform now has over 1,200 professionals helping to support the deployment of critical infrastructure throughout the United States and Canada.

Josh Delman, Founder and CEO of Centerline, said, “We are thrilled to be partnering with Audax and look forward to benefitting from their deep industry expertise. We believe this partnership will help us to meet the growing demand within our customers to work with larger, self-performing service organizations that can provide turn-key solutions to critical infrastructure within their national networks. We are excited to have expanded our coverage through our recent acquisitions and to be diversifying our services within the platform to better support our customers.”

“We believe Centerline is well-positioned to grow organically and through acquisitions as it continues its mission to build out a broad range of critical infrastructure services nationally,” said David Wong, Managing Director of Audax. “We are thrilled to be partnering with the company’s highly-experienced management team to help take the business to the next level.”

Keybanc Capital Markets acted as an advisor to Centerline in the transaction with Audax and Husch Blackwell served as legal counsel. Ropes & Gray LLP and Fredrikson & Byron served as legal counsel to Audax.

About Audax Private Equity

Audax Group is a leading alternative investment manager with offices in Boston, New York, and San Francisco. Since its founding in 1999, the firm has raised over $30 billion in capital across its Private Equity and Private Debt businesses. Audax Private Equity has invested over $8 billion in more than 150 platforms and over 1000 add-on companies, and is currently investing out of its $3.5 billion, sixth private equity fund. Through its disciplined Buy & Build approach, Audax Private Equity seeks to help platform companies execute add-on acquisitions that fuel revenue growth, optimize operations, and significantly increase equity value. With more than 300 employees, Audax is a leading capital partner for North American middle market companies. For more information, visit the Audax Private Equity website: http://www.audaxprivateequity.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

Source: PR Newswire

NEW YORK, Jan. 18, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Melody Investment Advisors LP (“Melody”), an alternative asset manager focused on mission-critical communications infrastructure, announced today the final close of Melody Communications Infrastructure Fund II (the “Fund”) at $1.95 billion. The Fund was significantly oversubscribed and exceeded its target of $1.5 billion by nearly 30%.

Omar Jaffrey, sole Founder and Managing Partner of Melody, said, “We thank our investors and are excited about the opportunities we see in the market as we believe demand for network usage will grow exponentially. We have a world-class team of partners and professionals at Melody, and are confident that our experience, deep sector expertise in identifying investments in communications infrastructure and active approach to value creation will allow us to focus on delivering superior results to our investors.”

Current Fund investments include CTI Towers, a leading owner and manager of wireless towers in the US, Harmoni Towers (formerly Uniti Towers), one of the largest tower builders in the US, and a growing cell sites and easements portfolio managed by Symphony Wireless, a cell sites and telecom easements acquisition platform.

“We are grateful to our investors for their support and commitment, as well as to our clients who we believe will benefit from new investments in Melody’s portfolio companies,” said Chester Dawes, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Melody Investment Advisors. “With a deep team, robust infrastructure and focus on risk management, we look forward to continuing to execute our investment strategy.”

Investors in the Fund are geographically diverse and include several large institutional infrastructure investors, including public and private pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, foundations and endowments, fund of funds, insurance companies and charitable trusts.

Atlantic-Pacific Capital served as the exclusive global placement agent. Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as legal counsel.

About Melody Investment Advisors
Melody Investment Advisors LP is an alternative asset manager led by sole Founder and Managing Partner, Omar Jaffrey, focused on communications infrastructure. The firm seeks to invest through direct asset ownership as well as by developing innovative financing solutions to complex problems for leading global communications companies. To learn more about Melody, visit www.melodyinvestmentadvisors.com.

Source: Quoted Data

Cordiant Digital Infrastructure invests last of C share proceeds and announces new placing – The board of Cordiant Digital Infrastructure (CORD) has announced that, following the full allocation of available capital to the acquisitions of Emitel and the assets of DataGryd Datacenters (described below), the net proceeds of the C share issue undertaken in June 2021 have been fully committed and, accordingly, the C shares will be converted into ordinary shares.

In addition, the board is pleased to be in a position to enhance its dividend guidance for the financial year commencing 1 April 2022, increasing it to 4p per ordinary share, and to announce a proposed placing of new ordinary shares under its placing programme. 

This comes as CORD has a pipeline of attractive opportunities under active due diligence and negotiation in excess of €2bn in North America and Western Europe alongside organic expansion opportunities within its portfolio. The placing will be launched at a price of 106 pence per ordinary share, representing a discount of 6.6% to the closing price of 113.5 pence per share on 4 January 2022 and a premium of 4.3% to the unaudited cum-dividend net asset value per share of 101.6 pence as at 30 September 2021 (and a premium of 5.9% to the unaudited ex-dividend net asset value per share of 100.1 pence as at 30 September 2021).

Steven Marshall, chair of Digital Infrastructure at Cordiant Capital Inc. said: “I am delighted that we have been able to secure these great assets to complement our investment in CRA. With completion of these acquisitions, the company will achieve full investment into a trio of desirable digital platforms at attractive pricing, which, on a pro forma basis have circa £95m of estimated underlying high quality 2021 EBITDA, establishing a robust platform for growth and accelerating planned delivery of a 4 pence dividend years ahead of the schedule announced at the time of the IPO.”

Shonaid Jemmett-Page, chairman of the Company, added: “These are transformative developments for Cordiant Digital Infrastructure. The board is delighted, on the back of the acquisitions, to be in a position to authorise both Conversion of the C Shares and an increase in dividend guidance. The announced placing of ordinary shares will assist in financing our exciting Emitel acquisition and also enable the Company to continue to pursue its active pipeline of opportunities in North America and Western Europe alongside expansion opportunities within existing investments.“

Background

Following its launch in February 2021, as the first dedicated digital infrastructure investment company on the London Stock Exchange, Cordiant Digital Infrastructure will, following completion of the acquisitions, have assembled a portfolio of three attractive digital infrastructure platforms, which collectively comprise:

–       about £95m of estimated 2021 EBITDA

–       about 300,000 square feet of existing and potential raised floor (or equivalent) data centre capacity

–       about 1,200 communications towers and sites

–       two significant fibre networks (leased and owned fibre-optic cable)

–       two national wireless sensor networks serving ‘smart city’ and utility applications

Source: BusinessWire

MIAMI–(BUSINESS WIRE)–ColoHouse, a full suite provider of colocation, cloud and managed services, announces its acquisition of Quonix, including Data102, and Turnkey Internet data centers, further expanding the company’s market footprint and services. This acquisition expands the ColoHouse portfolio by three locations and over 300 colocation customers in Albany, NY, Philadelphia, PA, and Colorado Springs, CO. In addition, Turnkey Internet, a leading provider of bare metal and services, will add another 1,500 customers to the ColoHouse base, fortifying the company’s bare metal capabilities.

“2021 continues to be the year of formulating the perfect group of exemplary companies and teams to create a best-in-class colocation, cloud, and services company,” said Paul Bint, CEO of ColoHouse. “The Quonix Group acquisition includes ColoHouse’s first foray into building ownership with the Turnkey Internet facility in Albany, NY. This is an exciting milestone for us as a growing team. In the last year, ColoHouse will have grown its data center footprint by 600%in the United States, supercharging our service offerings. The leadership teams are trailblazing our organization into an enterprise brand, using our multiple locations, talent, and service portfolios to be best in class.”

“ColoHouse’s acquisition of the Quonix family gives our customers the resources, structure, and geographic footprint necessary to meet their growing technology needs with one provider,” said ColoHouse’s new SVP, Managed Services, Randal Kohutek. “ColoHouse is leading the way by offering one-stop colocation, cloud, and now bare metal services, across numerous locations. The vision for ColoHouse is extraordinary, and I am looking forward to our customers, both new and existing, growing with us. It’s an exciting time.”

“With the addition of the Quonix Group, ColoHouse will be significantly expanding its bare metal offering. ColoHouse is no stranger to the bare metal game,” said Turnkey Internet’s Adam Wills. Since 2018, ColoHouse has offered bare metal and dedicated servers as part of their portfolio. “Turnkey Internet, as one of the leaders in the bare metal space, will be able to provide the technical expertise, personnel, and strategic planning to scale into our other US locations including Miami, New York, Dallas, and Phoenix alongside our entry into the European market. Our existing customers will continue to work with the same people they always have. The Turnkey Internet team is looking forward to providing nothing short of amazing solutions across a diverse geographic network and data center provider.”

Most recently, ColoHouse was funded by Valterra Partners to create a dominant data center and cloud solutions company that is ready to address the complex needs of their customers. ColoHouse and its investors will continue to grow the business through strategic acquisitions to create a single provider option for its client base.

About ColoHouse

ColoHouse is a worldwide retail colocation, cloud, and managed services provider with 26 locations in 21 cities in North America, Europe, and Asia. Our full suite of colocation, cloud and managed services gives our customers the flexibility to customize their IT infrastructure needs to meet their business objectives. We focus on delivering quality infrastructure, services, and support, giving our customers the ability to allocate more resources toward their core business. For more information, please visit http://www.colohouse.com/.

Source: CISION

EQT and Stonepeak are pleased to announce that EQT Infrastructure V (“EQT Infrastructure”) and Stonepeak have agreed to acquire DELTA Fiber (the “Company”) from EQT Infrastructure III. Following the closing of the transaction, each party will hold a 50 percent stake in the Company and co-control DELTA Fiber through a strong industrial board.

Headquartered in Schiedam, the Netherlands, DELTA Fiber provides high-speed broadband, TV and fixed and mobile telephony to Dutch households and businesses connected to its superior fiber-to-the-home (“FTTH”) network. DELTA Fiber owns and operates approximately 50,000 km fiber-based network infrastructure that connects approximately 900,000 households and businesses across the Netherlands. The Company employs approximately 600 people and was established as DELTA Fiber in 2018, following a combination of DELTA and CAIW, which were acquired by EQT Infrastructure III in February 2017 and January 2018, respectively.

With 20,000 new connections per month, DELTA Fiber today is one of the largest and fastest growing fiber companies in the Netherlands and is on its way to reaching one million connections by the end of 2021. DELTA Fiber benefits from a rapid growth in data consumption and an increased demand for fast and stable internet. The Company’s new network rollout will be based on the latest fiber technology (XGS-PON) that enables speeds up to 10 Gbps. This is the prelude to its 25G-PON technology that enables speeds up to 25 Gbps.

DELTA Fiber will benefit from EQT’s and Stonepeak’s significant combined expertise in the digital infrastructure sector and vast track record in fiber rollout across the Netherlands and Europe. Both parties are committed to investing significantly in the continued digitalization of the Dutch society by accelerating nationwide B2C and B2B FTTH connectivity in suburban and rural areas. Moreover, the Company’s fiber broadband is more sustainable and energy efficient than the legacy networks, with approximately 40-60 percent lower energy consumption.

Together, EQT Infrastructure and Stonepeak will support DELTA Fiber and its management team in its ambition to reach a footprint of two million fiber connections by 2025, thereby covering a quarter of the country. The Company will also be supported by a strong advisory board with seasoned industry experts who possess broad expertise within digital infrastructure and FTTH rollout. 

Matthias Fackler, Partner within EQT Infrastructure’s Advisory Team, said, “We are deeply impressed by DELTA Fiber’s management and employees’ strong performance over the past few years. EQT Infrastructure is excited to support their continued journey of digitizing the Netherlands by providing high quality broadband infrastructure to Dutch households and businesses. EQT Infrastructure shares this vision with Stonepeak whose vast experience in the digital infrastructure space makes them an ideal partner to support DELTA Fiber in its next phase of evolution and growth.”

Brian McMullen, Senior Managing Director at Stonepeak, said, “Stonepeak has long recognized the mission critical nature of broadband in today’s society and we look forward to working with Marco and the team to accelerate the additional rollout of DELTA Fiber’s network across the Netherlands. We are delighted to partner with a like-minded peer in EQT Infrastructure on this transaction, which will accelerate DELTA Fiber’s ability to connect households throughout the country with reliable broadband.”

Cyrus Gentry, Managing Director at Stonepeak, added, “DELTA Fiber, with its unique asset base and industry-leading management team, represents a compelling investment opportunity that will complement Stonepeak’s existing global portfolio of residential broadband-focused platforms.”

Marco Visser, CEO of DELTA Fiber, said, “Two leading international investors joining DELTA Fiber confirms our success in recent years. That EQT is choosing to invest in our company again, together with Stonepeak, shows confidence in our ambitious plans for the future. Together they provide us with a solid foundation for further growth.”

The transaction is subject to customary conditions and approvals. It is expected to close in December 2021. With the acquisition of a stake in DELTA Fiber, EQT Infrastructure V is expected to be 60-65 percent invested (including closed and/or signed investments, announced public offers, if applicable, and less any expected syndication).

Source: Investment Week UK

Digital 9 Infrastructure has raised £275m following the results of its placing programme which was significantly over-subscribed.

The investment firm which invests in a range of digital infrastructure assets raised £275m through the issue of 255.8m shares at 107.5p per share. The issue price represents a 4.0% premium to the NAV as of 30 June and an 8.7% discount to the pre-announcement closing share price of 117.8p.

Directors including Jack Waters, Keith Mansfield and Lisa Harrington have subscribed for over 57.2k new shares, whilst members of the investment manager’s team, Thor Johnsen and Andre Karihaloo have subscribed for 209.3k new shares

Jack Waters, chair of Digital 9 Infrastructure said: “The drivers of digital infrastructure are increasing rapidly as more of our lives move online, fundamentally changing the way we work, shop and socialise. These long-term changes in behaviour have been accelerated by, or result from, the Covid-19 pandemic as well as more fundamental trends in data usage.”

“Our existing shareholders and new investors have identified the opportunity that investing in D9 represents – a means for them to participate in this exciting sector at a critical point in time,” said Waters.

Digital 9 Infrastructure which launched in February this year, raising £300m at IPO, will use the proceeds to invest in its pipeline of investment opportunities.https://bed82c0b628f5a81ba11705bb67cbaa1.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html

Its string of acquisitions includes Aqua Comms, a platform which owns and operates 14,300km of trans-Atlantic sub-sea fibre systems for £170m. Digital 9 raised a further £175m for the platform in June.

More recently, the fund acquired a Nordic Data Centre for £231m, representing a multiple of 20x contracted run-rate EBITDA with a base cash yield of 7%+.

Digital 9 targets total returns of 10% pa include a 6p year one dividend (5.6% yield on the issue price).

The admission of the new shares and dealings in the new shares is expected to commence at 8:00am, on 1 October 2021.

Source: Business Wire

SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) announced today its new digital infrastructure strategy, combining a multi-cloud approach with third-party data centers to drive technological speed, agility, and scalability for its customers and employees. Central to the digital infrastructure strategy is Wells Fargo’s selection of two industry leaders as its public cloud providers: Microsoft Azure as its primary public cloud provider and Google Cloud providing additional business-critical public cloud services.

“Launching our new digital infrastructure strategy is a critical step in our multiyear journey to transform Wells Fargo, making it easier for customers to do business with us and creating a better working experience for our employees,” said Saul Van Beurden, Wells Fargo’s head of Technology. “The Wells Fargo of tomorrow will be digital-first and offer easier-to-use products and services, and all of that starts with driving speed, scalability, and enhanced user experience through the next generation digital infrastructure strategy we’re announcing today.”

Wells Fargo will leverage the Microsoft Azure platform to empower the creation of innovative solutions across all bank functions and provide a trusted and secure foundation for strategic business workloads. The two companies will partner to use critical data and analytics services to accelerate Wells Fargo’s digital transformation, including delivering enhanced customer experiences and enabling increased employee collaboration. Google Cloud will drive advanced workloads, and complex artificial intelligence and data solutions, allowing the company to move faster on driving personalized experiences for its customers and clients.

An integral part of the digital infrastructure strategy is a secure and compliant cloud platform that will provide protections to safeguard the data, privacy, and financial assets of Wells Fargo’s customers, with a focus on data confidentiality.

“Wells Fargo and Microsoft have a longstanding relationship, and we are excited to build on that foundation to accelerate Wells Fargo’s digital transformation journey,” said Judson Althoff, Microsoft’s Chief Commercial Officer. “Microsoft Azure is empowering financial services institutions with its secure, compliant, and scalable platform for industry cloud solutions needs, including for advanced and complex workloads. By standardizing on the Microsoft cloud and trusting Azure as its most strategic and primary cloud platform across all lines of business, Wells Fargo will be able to advance its key business and technology transformation priorities across core areas like managing risk and control, personalized banking, and the digital branch of the future.”

“We’re proud to support Wells Fargo on its multi-cloud journey, with artificial intelligence and data solutions that will not only transform the business but also power the future of personalized experiences for its customers and clients,” said Rob Enslin, president, Google Cloud. “Google Cloud is committed to providing financial institutions with cloud technology that empowers banks to evolve, and to create digital experiences that customers demand.”

As an additional element of the new digital infrastructure strategy, Wells Fargo will transition to a set of third-party-owned data centers, while the company’s longer-term aspirations are to rely predominantly on public cloud. These facilities will complement the public cloud offerings of Microsoft and Google Cloud with both private cloud and traditional hosting services to create a secure, resilient, and flexible technology foundation for the company’s transformation.

About Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a leading financial services company that has approximately $1.9 trillion in assets, proudly serves one in three U.S. households and more than 10% of small businesses in the U.S., and is the leading middle market banking provider in the U.S. We provide a diversified set of banking, investment, and mortgage products and services, as well as consumer and commercial finance, through our four reportable operating segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth & Investment Management. Wells Fargo ranked No. 37 on Fortune’s 2021 rankings of America’s largest corporations. In the communities we serve, the company focuses its social impact on building a sustainable, inclusive future for all by supporting housing affordability, small business growth, financial health, and a low-carbon economy. News, insights, and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo Stories.

Additional information may be found at www.wellsfargo.com | Twitter: @WellsFargo.