M&T Bank Provides Simultaneous Financing for Sentinel’s NJ-1 Facility 

New York, NY – February 28, 2011 — Sentinel Data Centers, a leading owner, developer and operator of multi-tenant data centers for large-footprint users, announced today an investment partnership with New York-based investment firm, Kelso & Company.  Under the terms of the transaction, Kelso will invest alongside Sentinel’s founders, providing the entity with up to $300 million of aggregate equity capital for expansion.

Contemporaneous with the closing of the Kelso partnership, Sentinel also announced the closing of a $90 million loan in connection with its 330,000 square foot data center in Somerset, New Jersey.  Led by M&T Bank, the loan transaction coincides with Sentinel’s completion of the first 140,000 square foot phase of its LEED Gold certified NJ-1 facility.

“We are thrilled to have Kelso as a new partner for our next stage of growth,” said Todd Aaron, Sentinel’s Co-Founder and Co-President.  “Kelso’s team shares our vision for the business and their long-term investment horizon will enable us to continue to grow at a measured pace with an emphasis on quality over quantity.  Our singular focus remains the development of thoughtfully designed facility solutions tailored specifically to the reliability, efficiency, flexibility and reporting requirements of the large, quality-sensitive enterprise.”

“We believe that large-footprint data center users will increasingly appreciate the value proposition of multi-tenant data centers and that premium-quality, engineering-focused providers like Sentinel will continue to gain share,” said Hank Mannix of Kelso.  “Sentinel’s ten-year track record of delivering best-in-class solutions to an extremely impressive roster of blue chip corporations ideally positions them for continued growth and we are excited to be their partner.”

About Kelso
Kelso & Company is one of the oldest and most established firms specializing in private equity investing.  Since 1980, Kelso has made investments in over 110 companies in a broad range of industry sectors with aggregate initial capitalization at closing of over $38 billion and has managed eight private equity partnerships with total capital committed of over $10 billion.  The firm is currently investing its eighth partnership, Kelso Investment Associates VIII, L.P., with $5.1 billion of committed capital.  Kelso focuses its efforts and resources primarily on investment opportunities in growing middle market companies and has built its successful investment record by working in close partnership with experienced and talented management teams.  Kelso enjoys a reputation of being an attractive partner for management due to the firm’s long-term view to building shareholder value, the continuity and stability of the firm’s employees, and its willingness to support growth in its portfolio companies.