Latham & Watkins Advises Digital Realty in $1.8 Billion Acquisition of Ascenty in Brazil

Latham & Watkins LLP advised Digital Realty Trust, Inc., a leading global provider of data center, colocation and interconnection solutions, in its Brazilian subsidiary’s definitive agreement to acquire Ascenty, a leading data center provider in Brazil, from private equity firm Great Hill Partners in a transaction valued at approximately $1.8 billion. Ascenty provides data centers in São Paulo, Campinas, Rio de Janeiro and Fortaleza, Brazil.

Latham harnessed a cross-office and interdisciplinary team, including from its market-leading REIT, Mergers & Acquisitions, and Latin America Practices, to advise on the transaction. In the first half of 2018, Latham handled more than US$300 billion in announced M&A transactions worldwide, representing principal entities or financial advisors in more than 200 public and private transactions.

Julian Kleindorfer, Los Angeles partner and Global Co-Chair of Latham’s REIT Industry Group, led the Latham deal team with Antonio Del Pino, New York partner and Co-Chair of the Latin America Practice, and Orange County counsel David Wheeler, with associates Alidad Damooei, Jean Meraz-Debraine, Parker Tresemer, Shannon Cheng and Janet Hsu. Advice was also provided on capital markets matters by associates Brent Epstein, Devon MacLaughlin, and Joseph Porter in Los Angeles; on joint venture matters by San Diego partner Ann Buckingham and Los Angeles counsel Anna Rienhardt; on tax matters by Los Angeles partners Michael Brody, Ana O'Brien, and Eric Cho and New York partner Jiyeon Lee-Lim, with associate Brian Rogers; on finance matters by Los Angeles of counsel Glen Collyer, with associates Pablo Clarke and Devon Strauss; on benefits & compensation matters by Los Angeles partner David Taub and San Francisco partner Julie Crisp, with associate Jack Stratton; on real estate matters by Orange County partner Hilary Shalla, with associate Meagan Licata; on insurance matters by Los Angeles associate Drew Levin and San Diego associate Denis Griffin; on environmental matters by Orange County partner Chris Norton; and on IP matters by Orange County counsel David Kuiper.