DataBank, EdgeCore stakes marketed as AI reprices powered land

Bankers are marketing majority equity stakes in a set of US data center operators including Dallas-based DataBank and Denver-based EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure, according to The Wall Street Journal, which cited people familiar with the efforts. No sale has been announced, but the asking numbers are the story: a majority stake in DataBank could reportedly value the company at as much as $25 billion.

Why it matters

Treat the valuations, not the transactions, as the signal. What is being marketed here is not a portfolio of buildings, it is contracted capacity and secured electricity, and the reported pricing implies buyers are underwriting power as the scarce asset rather than land or shell. That reprices the front end of every data center deal. If stabilized platforms clear at these multiples, the value of a site with an executed interconnection agreement and a utility commitment separates sharply from an otherwise identical site without one, and the gap is worth more than entitlement or dirt. For developers, the practical read is that optionality on power is now the underwriting, and the exit for a powered-land position is an institution buying the platform, not a merchant sale. The counter-read is equally live: sponsors selling majority control into peak demand, while build costs climb, is what late-cycle looks like.

The numbers

Stakes in Netrality Data Centers, DataBank, Edged and EdgeCore are being pitched to private equity firms, collectively worth tens of billions, per the WSJ. DataBank is held by a DigitalBridge-led consortium that also includes AustralianSuper, Swiss Life and EDF Invest. DigitalBridge’s own stake fell to 7.8 percent after a roughly $600 million secondary share sale in early 2025, which followed DataBank’s approximately $2 billion equity raise announced in October 2024 and led by a $1.5 billion AustralianSuper investment. EdgeCore is owned by Swiss firm Partners Group, which led a $1.9 billion equity investment in September 2024 to fund expansion in markets including Ashburn and Phoenix; EdgeCore has reportedly asked potential buyers to submit offers. KKR’s Helix Digital Infrastructure is among the firms evaluating, per the Journal. Data center M&A ran roughly $50 billion in 2025, more than double the prior year, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence. Advisor banks and platform megawatt totals were not disclosed in the reporting.

What’s next

Nothing here is signed, and stake sales get shopped and shelved all the time. The number to watch is whether DataBank clears anywhere near $25 billion, because that print, not the marketing, is what resets land bases in Phoenix, Atlanta and Northern Virginia. More at the Dallas hub.