Investment manager I Squared Capital announced Tuesday its acquisition of 10 data center facilities from Cogent Fiber in a $225 million cash transaction, representing the firm’s continued investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure.
The investment company revealed plans to utilize these properties as the foundation for a new U.S. data center operating platform, with an additional $1 billion commitment planned for improvements, expansion projects, and future acquisitions.
This transaction, covering nine different locations, highlights the industry’s movement away from large, centralized data centers designed for model training toward facilities positioned closer to end-users for AI inference operations.
The difference between model training and inference represents the contrast between “learning” and “doing.”
“Location, power, and connectivity are the three variables that determine a data center’s long-term value, and these facilities have all three in markets where new supply is severely constrained,” stated Gautam Bhandari, co-founder and managing partner at I Squared Capital.
The transaction encompasses approximately 53 megawatts of power capacity and roughly 259,000 square feet of colocation space spread across nine U.S. markets, including Chicago, Atlanta and Houston.
Cogent Fiber operates as an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of internet service provider Cogent Communications Holdings. The parent company’s stock has declined nearly 16% in 2026.
I Squared Capital focuses on investing in and managing digital infrastructure, with data centers among its key areas of interest.
In the previous month, the investment manager reached an agreement to acquire a majority ownership position in Elea, recognized as one of Brazil’s largest carrier-neutral data center platforms.
