Cyxtera Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ: CYXT) has completed its US$3.4 billion business combination with Starboard Value Acquisition Corp. (NASDAQ: SVAC) and is debuting on the Nasdaq Global Select Market the Nasdaq), joining a growing number of data centre operators going public as the market becomes a valuable asset to a wider pool of investors due to attractive returns and stability.

The business combination, which was approved by SVAC’s stockholders at its special meeting held on July 28, 2021, provides Cyxtera access to new capital sources to fuel growth, accelerate product and technology innovation, the company said.

Cyxtera’s shares of Class A common stock will begin trading on the Nasdaq under the symbol CYXT and its warrants under the symbol CYXTW.

Manuel D. Medina, Chair of Cyxtera and Founder and Managing Partner of Medina Capital, said: “Today marks a key milestone in a journey we launched in 2017 to build a global leader in digital infrastructure with the scale, connectivity and technology to meet the needs of leading enterprises, service providers, and government agencies.

“Cyxtera already has a strong track record of value creation, and we look forward to continuing to deliver innovative solutions for our customers across our global data centre platform.”

Nelson Fonseca, president and CEO of Cyxtera, added: “Having completed our merger with SVAC, we now can accelerate our plans to drive high-margin growth through increased utilization of our existing assets, development of innovative product offerings, and expansion of our global footprint. We look forward to leveraging our data centre platform and our experience in successfully operating a publicly traded data centre company to create long-term shareholder value.”

The company’s leadership, including Chair Manuel D. Medina, CEO Nelson Fonseca, COO Randy Rowland, and CFO Carlos Sagasta, will continue to lead Cyxtera.

Medina and Fonseca will also serve on the board of the combined company as Chair and Director, respectively, joined by Starboard Value LP CEO and former SVAC Chair Jeff Smith and former SVAC Industry Advisor Greg Waters.

The other members of Cyxtera’s board are BC Partners’ Partner and Chairman Raymond Svider and Partner Fahim Ahmed, John W. Diercksen, former SVAC director Michelle Felman and Melissa Hathaway.

The company received approximately $493 million in total cash from the transaction before fees, expenses and debt amortisation. Proceeds of the transaction will be used to partially retire company debt and provide incremental cash for growth, as well as to pay transaction expenses.

Citi served as lead financial advisor and Latham & Watkins LLP served as legal advisor to Cyxtera, BC Partners, and Medina Capital. Morgan Stanley served as financial advisor to Cyxtera, and J.P. Morgan served as financial advisor to BC Partners.

UBS Investment Bank, Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, and Cowen and Company, LLC served as capital markets advisors to SVAC. Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP served as legal advisor to SVAC. Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP served as legal advisor to SVAC Sponsor LLC.

J.P. Morgan Securities LLC served as lead placement agent with Citi, RBC Capital Markets, LLC and UBS Investment Bank as co-placement agents on the PIPE.