Latest news with #PeterRumbold
National Post
2 days ago
- Business
- National Post
Silver Lake Launches $400 Million Digital Infrastructure Platform with Adam Fisher and Peter Rumbold
Article content Innovative, strategic partnership addresses escalating demand for AI and cloud workloads by delivering turnkey powered land and related energy generation solutions for data center development Article content MENLO PARK, Calif. & NEW YORK — Silver Lake, the global leader in technology investing, and Adam Fisher and Peter Rumbold, principals at Commonwealth Asset Management with deep expertise in real estate and infrastructure investing, today announced the launch of a digital infrastructure platform with $400 million of capital to assemble a global portfolio of strategically located powered land sites to address the key scarce input in meeting the escalating demand for data centers. Article content The company brings together Silver Lake's extensive expertise in data center development and its deep relationships in the technology ecosystem with Messrs. Fisher and Rumbold's proven track record across real estate and infrastructure, providing a comprehensive suite of solutions for cloud and artificial intelligence ('AI') data center deployments. By integrating grid power and behind-the-meter generating solutions into scalable land sites, the platform's approach ensures rapid energization and maximizes land site readiness, significantly enhancing strategic value for data center developers and technology companies. Article content The platform is currently operating in and targeting strategic, high-growth markets across the U.S., Canada and the U.K., where power access is becoming an increasingly scarce critical resource. Article content 'This investment represents a long-term commitment to not only meeting the immediate needs of AI-driven data center growth but also positioning the company as a leader in the future of digital infrastructure and a one stop shop for rapidly growing developers and hyperscalers,' said Lee Wittlinger, Managing Director at Silver Lake. 'Our innovative approach to land and power solutions, combined with strategic relationships with key energy partners, will enable us to meet the evolving demands of hyperscalers with a holistic, differentiated approach.' Article content 'Data centers are a critical infrastructure in modern society and with the immense growth of AI and cloud computing, the ability to deploy large-scale data centers rapidly with secure, scalable power is crucial,' said Adam Fisher. 'With our combined expertise at the cross section of real estate, infrastructure and technology, we're excited to partner with Silver Lake to create a platform that is uniquely positioned to take advantage of this demand by providing turnkey land and power solutions in highly strategic global locations to transform the future of digital infrastructure.' Article content Global power demand from data centers is projected to increase 50% by 2027, with forecasts indicating a potential rise of up to 165% by the end of the decade, highlighting the growing need for efficient, scalable energy solutions 1. With a planned portfolio of over six gigawatts of power across multiple global markets, this new platform is well positioned to capitalize on the immense need for power being driven by hyperscalers. Article content About Silver Lake Article content Silver Lake is a global technology investment firm, with approximately $103 billion in combined assets under management and committed capital and a team of professionals based in North America, Europe and Asia. Silver Lake's portfolio companies collectively generate nearly $254 billion of revenue annually and employ approximately 456,000 people globally. Article content About Adam Fisher Article content Adam is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Commonwealth Asset Management. Over the last 18 years, Adam has successfully built and led numerous investment management practices across both public and private markets. Prior to launching Commonwealth, Adam served as the Global Head of Macro and Real Estate for a New York-based Family Office and founded and served as the CIO of Commonwealth Opportunity Capital, a global macro hedge fund. Article content About Peter Rumbold Article content Peter Rumbold is the President of Commonwealth Asset Management and oversees all of the firm's real estate investment activities. With over 20 years of experience, Peter has held real estate investment roles at several firms including a New York-based Family Office, Winter Properties LLC, Cerberus Real Estate Capital Management, LLC and Sterling American Property, Inc. Article content Goldman Sachs. (2025, February 4). AI to drive 165% increase in data center power demand by 2030. Article content Article content Article content Article content Media Contact: Article content Article content Article content
Wall Street Journal
2 days ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Silver Lake Invests $400 Million to Tackle Data-Center Power Bottleneck
Private-equity firm Silver Lake is expected to announce Friday a $400 million project aimed at securing powered land it will sell to data-center developers and hyperscalers. The new platform is a joint venture between Silver Lake and Adam Fisher and Peter Rumbold, principals at Commonwealth Asset Management, who have invested in data-center land projects for nearly a decade. The joint venture said it has already secured 3 gigawatts of power and is developing sites in Texas and Georgia. The partners said they expect this phase of the project ultimately will result in securing over 6 gigawatts in various sites across North America, by leveraging both relationships with utility providers and in some instances by building their own power generation. Silver Lake Managing Director Lee Wittlinger said the approach is different from how data centers were developed in the past, which typically involved first buying land and then looking to secure the needed power. Obtaining the required power in a major data-center hub is no longer a given, he said. A boom in artificial intelligence and surging demand for data centers has upended the business of utilities, power producers and grid planners, who had been living in a world of nearly flat electricity demand for roughly two decades. Trends suggest that by 2030, data centers for training the largest AI models are projected to require over 5 gigawatts of electricity, roughly equivalent to Manhattan's average peak consumption, according to the nonprofit research group Epoch AI. OpenAI, which launched its most advanced model Thursday, recently struck a data-center deal with Oracle that totals 4.5 gigawatts of capacity. The data centers are spread among locations around the U.S., people familiar with the deal told The Wall Street Journal. 'The real limiter at this point on all of that isn't: can you get the GPUs from Nvidia or others, or can you actually find the money,' Wittlinger said, adding, 'the real limiter is really power.' Fisher, who is the founder and chief investment officer of Commonwealth, said he's taking a three-pronged approach to securing land with the necessary power requirements. The first involves finding land parcels and then sussing out power capacity from the utilities before making the purchase. Fisher said this is a common approach across the industry right now, but that the chances of success are slim. The second approach requires building power generation from the ground up, mainly with natural gas generators, as the joint venture is doing in Texas. There's still some work to be done with the utilities in that case, since data centers need to be connected to the grid for backup, he said. The third involves working with the utilities to identify areas where there's excess power, and then finding land parcels in those areas. Fisher said Georgia, Texas and Pennsylvania are attractive areas here because they have a lot of natural gas. Wittlinger said Silver Lake has put over $5 billion into the AI infrastructure category. It made the initial investment that ultimately led to the creation of data-center developer Vantage Data Centers 15 years ago. He says he has confidence in how this new platform can scale and is looking forward to putting more capital behind it as it gets more traction. 'That is our hope. And as of this moment, our expectation,' he said. Write to Isabelle Bousquette at
