DartPoints, a high-performance data center services vendor, recently received a $250 million majority investment from mid-market investment firm NOVA Infrastructure and other investors to help DartPoints grow its data center operations.DartPoints provides IT services to some 900 retail and wholesale customers through a distributed network of 11 data center facilities in 10 markets across South Carolina, North Carolina, Ohio, Indiana, and Louisiana.The new investment money allows DartPoints to acquire the underlying real estate at its Greenville, SC; Baton Rouge, LA; and Asheville, NC data centers, according to the company. Also participating in the investment infusion is new investor Orion Infrastructure Capital. An existing investor, Astra Capital Management, will continue to retain a minority stake in the business.The real estate purchases will allow the company to accelerate the ownership of its facilities and grow its data center footprint in Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets as demand grows from AI and other data-intensive workloads, according to a marketing spokesperson.DartPoints is moving more of its focus on facility ownership and long-term expansion where strong infrastructure support has not always been available. DartPoints works with partners to provide world-class data center colocation, cloud, cybersecurity, and managed infrastructure services to its customers.A DartPoints executive did not respond to several inquiries from ChannelE2E seeking more details about the new investment and the company’s business plans.
Under the deal, “This means that every roadmap DartPoints has is now at risk given this change in ownership and leadership for DartPoints,” said Enderle.“They had an investment company before, and now they are owned by NOVA, which will undoubtedly want far more operational control given the size of the investment,” said Enderle. “They likely do not want to signal this [as an acquisition] because it will cloud their future for a time and make them into a riskier vendor to use until NOVA is able to express the direction they want DartPoints to shift to, or to reaffirm the direction DartPoints is already on.”In deals like this, “often investment firms leverage their investments excessively, taking their profits before taking the acquired company into bankruptcy,” said Enderle. “NOVA does not appear to be that kind of firm, but that is always a risk with acquisitions like this, and given current economic conditions, it may be an even more attractive path right now.”Another analyst, Shelly Kramer, founder and principal analyst with Kramer & Co., said she sees the investment as a normal move in a case like this one.“The existing investor, Astra Capital, retains its ‘meaningful minority stake,’ but with the addition of both Orion and NOVA to the tune of $250 million, that sets the stage for quicker growth,” said Kramer. “With the boom in all things AI, infrastructure has become an even more important part of the path to success, so I see this as new investors making a move to capitalize on that boom and expand to markets beyond the Tier 1 focus of the company to date. This is very good news for DartPoints, the managed partner ecosystem, and the customers it serves.”
Analysts Weigh In on DartPoints Investments
Rob Enderle, principal analyst at Enderle Group, told ChannelE2E that by taking a majority interest, NOVA Infrastructure is essentially acquiring DartPoints. “It would be very unusual for an acquisition like this to be hands-off – as in just an investment – given the level of control this will give NOVA.”Under the deal, “This means that every roadmap DartPoints has is now at risk given this change in ownership and leadership for DartPoints,” said Enderle.“They had an investment company before, and now they are owned by NOVA, which will undoubtedly want far more operational control given the size of the investment,” said Enderle. “They likely do not want to signal this [as an acquisition] because it will cloud their future for a time and make them into a riskier vendor to use until NOVA is able to express the direction they want DartPoints to shift to, or to reaffirm the direction DartPoints is already on.”In deals like this, “often investment firms leverage their investments excessively, taking their profits before taking the acquired company into bankruptcy,” said Enderle. “NOVA does not appear to be that kind of firm, but that is always a risk with acquisitions like this, and given current economic conditions, it may be an even more attractive path right now.”Another analyst, Shelly Kramer, founder and principal analyst with Kramer & Co., said she sees the investment as a normal move in a case like this one.“The existing investor, Astra Capital, retains its ‘meaningful minority stake,’ but with the addition of both Orion and NOVA to the tune of $250 million, that sets the stage for quicker growth,” said Kramer. “With the boom in all things AI, infrastructure has become an even more important part of the path to success, so I see this as new investors making a move to capitalize on that boom and expand to markets beyond the Tier 1 focus of the company to date. This is very good news for DartPoints, the managed partner ecosystem, and the customers it serves.”
