Digital Realty Expands Across Three Continents with Kansas City Campus, Teraco Stake Increase, and Columbia Capital Acquisition
June 22, 2026
Digital Realty Expands Across Three Continents with Kansas City Campus, Teraco Stake Increase, and Columbia Capital Acquisition
Digital Realty has announced a series of major transactions spanning North America, Africa, and the investment landscape, underscoring its aggressive push to scale hyperscale data center capacity and private capital infrastructure. The moves, revealed in a single week, include the acquisition of a massive powered land site in Kansas, an increased ownership stake in South African data center operator Teraco, and the purchase of U.S. investment firm Columbia Capital.
The company has acquired approximately 1,440 acres of land at the Astra Enterprise Park in DeSoto, Kansas, paying roughly $475 million for the site in April. The first phase, known as Astra North, will cover about 280 acres and is expected to host up to nine buildings totaling around 3 million square feet. Digital Realty has signed an energy service agreement with local utility Evergy to secure 600 megawatts of utility power by early 2028, with the capacity potentially rising to 2 gigawatts at full build-out. The campus, previously home to the U.S. government’s Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant, will rely primarily on outside air cooling, supplemented by evaporative cooling during peak heat periods. The development, referred to in city documents as Project Jayhawk, also includes plans to fund a new industrial wastewater treatment plant.
In a separate move, Digital Realty is increasing its ownership in Teraco, the leading data center platform in Africa. The company will purchase an additional 16 percent stake for approximately $650 million, funded primarily through the issuance of 3.4 million shares of common stock. The transaction is expected to close in the second half of 2026, bringing Digital Realty’s total ownership in Teraco to 77 percent. At full expansion, Teraco’s total capacity across its portfolio is set to reach 191 megawatts, spanning campuses in Isando, Bredell, Cape Town, and Durban.
Digital Realty has also agreed to acquire Columbia Capital, a U.S. investment firm focused on communications, technology, and digital infrastructure, for approximately $485 million, largely through the issuance of 2.3 million shares of common stock. Founded in 1989, Columbia Capital has more than $9 billion in fund commitments from institutional investors and has been a long-time co-investor in Teraco. Digital Realty said the acquisition will accelerate its Strategic Private Capital platform, which recently closed a new $3.25 billion U.S. hyperscale data center fund. The fund is focused on ownership and development of hyperscale data centers in major Tier 1 U.S. metros, including Northern Virginia, California, Texas, Georgia, and New York.
“These transactions support the continued momentum of Digital Realty’s three core pillars of growth,” said Andy Power, president and CEO of Digital Realty. “The purchase of land in the Kansas City metro enhances our ability to serve hyperscale customers’ near-term requirements, while our increased stake in Teraco strengthens our position in Africa’s leading data center platform and supports the continued growth of our global colocation and connectivity business.” Power added that the company’s history of collaboration with Columbia Capital reflects a shared long-term perspective, providing additional flexibility to scale both its hyperscale development pipeline and private capital platform.
The Kansas City campus, located southwest of the city in Johnson County, is part of a broader redevelopment of the 9,000-acre Astra park. Panasonic is already developing a battery production facility on 300 acres within the park, and a 600-megawatt solar farm could be developed on roughly 3,000 additional acres. Local infrastructure firm Beale Infrastructure is also pursuing development in De Soto. The strategic expansion across three continents signals Digital Realty’s intent to capture growing demand from hyperscale customers while deepening its foothold in emerging markets and strengthening its financial infrastructure for future growth.
Source: datacenterdynamics
