Peak 10 Poised for Aggressive Growth under GI Partners Ownership

CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

National IT infrastructure and cloud provider, Peak 10, Inc. (“Peak 10”) today announced that private equity firm GI Partners (“GI”) has agreed to acquire Peak 10 from private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (“Welsh Carson”).

Peak 10 provides hybrid IT infrastructure services including data center services, private and enterprise cloud infrastructure, and managed services. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., the company operates 24 data centers in 10 key markets in the U.S., primarily serving mid-sized enterprises around the globe. Peak 10 boasts one of the most comprehensive IT security and compliance programs in the industry and is a leader in Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS). It was recently named the first provider in the Americas to achieve the Cisco Powered DRaaS Certification.

“This is a pivotal time in the IT infrastructure space,” said David Jones, President and Chief Executive Officer of Peak 10. “Our industry continues to experience dynamic change with shifts and enhancements to virtual environments and the promise of the cloud. GI Partners' deep experience in value creation within our sector aligns with our aggressive plans to expand geographically and deliver new capabilities to the marketplace for companies who need a partner like Peak 10.”

“Peak 10's talented and experienced management team has built an outstanding organization with considerable scale,” said David Mace, Director at GI Partners. “We look forward to supporting the company as it continues to expand its leadership position.”

“We are very proud of the partnership we have enjoyed with Peak 10's management team since 2010. During that time, we worked closely together to continue building on Peak 10's leadership position in the market,” added Eric J. Lee, General Partner at Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe. “The company delivered terrific performance and we believe is well-positioned for its next phase of growth.”

Under this new partnership, Peak 10 stands to gain strong momentum from the history of technology investments made by GI Partners, including Digital Realty Trust DLR, The Telx Group, and SoftLayer Technologies.

“Our partnership with Welsh Carson created a strong foundation for our next phase. With GI, we will write a new chapter in our growth story,” said Jones, who founded the company in 2000. “Together, we have the depth of resources and experience to drive much bigger achievements. This is a very positive move for us and allows us an opportunity to expand in new directions, sustain new growth and leverage our partner program.”

Completion of the transaction, which is subject to regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions, is expected in the second quarter of 2014.

About Peak10

Peak 10 provides reliable, tailored cloud computing, data center and other information technology (IT) infrastructure solutions and managed services, primarily for mid-market businesses. Peak 10 solutions are designed to scale and adapt to customers' changing business needs, enabling them to increase agility, lower costs, improve performance and focus internal IT resources on their core competencies. Peak 10 holds the Cisco® Cloud Provider Certification with a Cisco Powered Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) and Disaster Recovery-as-a-Service (DRaaS) designation. Peak 10 undergoes annual examinations by third party auditors and helps companies meet the requirements of various regulatory and industry standards such as SOC 1, SOC 2, SOC 3, Safe Harbor, HIPAA, PCI DSS, FISMA and ITAR. For more information, visit www.peak10.com.

About Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe

Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe focuses its investment activity in two target industries, information/business services and healthcare. Since its founding in 1979, the Firm has organized 15 limited partnerships with total capital of $20 billion. The Firm is currently investing an equity fund, Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe XI, L.P. See www.welshcarson.com to learn more.

About GI Partners

Founded in 2001, GI Partners is a leading middle market private equity investment firm based in Menlo Park, California. The firm currently manages over $10 billion through private equity and real estate separate account strategies for recognized institutional investors, including some of the largest state and sovereign pension funds in North America, Europe, Australia, Asia, and the Middle East. GI Partners is active in a number of key sectors, including IT Infrastructure & Services, Healthcare Services, Retail & Leisure, and Financial & Real Estate Services. For more information on GI Partners and its entire portfolio, please visit www.gipartners.com.