“Expect acquisitions of facilities and businesses in international Tier 1 markets to pick up in the second half of 2017 as industry leaders become increasingly more comfortable with foreign deals,” JLL advises.

A recent wave of mergers and acquisitions has also brought sweeping changes to the world of data centers. In 2017 alone, there have been more than $10 billion worth of acquisitions and buyouts, JLL finds. In the largest deal, data center REITs Digital Realty, based in San Francisco, and DuPont Fabros in Washington, DC, announced earlier this summer that they will merge in an all-stock transaction worth $7.6 billion.

“They are the 800-pound gorilla,” says Holcomb, but are far from the only big new player to emerge. Cyxtera Technologies was formed in a $2.8 billion deal out of BC Partners, Medina Capital and CenturyLink. And Peak 10 acquired ViaWest in a $1.7 billion deal, while Digital Bridge acquired Vantage for $1.0 billion.

And JLL says that this wild series of mergers and acquisitions is not yet at an end. Data centers have entered an era of rising competition, and the easiest way to grow is to buy up other companies serving desirable customers, geographic areas, or selling innovative products. “Expect large-scale providers to continue on acquisition sprees.”

CHICAGO—As reported last week in GlobeSt.com, the data center industry continues to build new space at stupendous levels in many US markets. But big changes have occurred in the sector over the past year, according to a new mid-year report from JLL..

Cloud providers, for example, have temporarily slowed down new leasing activity in the US, primarily to finish utilizing the huge amount of space taken in the first half of last year, and thereby opening up more opportunities for Fortune 1000 firms to expand their data capacities. But that does not mean cloud providers have stopped expanding. Instead, they have now largely shifted attention to overseas markets.

“The cloud providers are trying to offer a global-scale product,” Mason Mularoni, a Boston-based senior research analyst with JLL, tells GlobeSt.com. And therefore, this expansion into the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, Africa and the Middle East does not represent a move away from the US.

Curt Holcomb, a Dallas-based executive vice president with JLL, adds that “the cloud guys are following the same pattern” established by colocation providers, which also concentrated on establishing capacity in the US before heading overseas.

“Expect acquisitions of facilities and businesses in international Tier 1 markets to pick up in the second half of 2017 as industry leaders become increasingly more comfortable with foreign deals,” JLL advises.

A recent wave of mergers and acquisitions has also brought sweeping changes to the world of data centers. In 2017 alone, there have been more than $10 billion worth of acquisitions and buyouts, JLL finds. In the largest deal, data center REITs Digital Realty, based in San Francisco, and DuPont Fabros in Washington, DC, announced earlier this summer that they will merge in an all-stock transaction worth $7.6 billion.

“They are the 800-pound gorilla,” says Holcomb, but are far from the only big new player to emerge. Cyxtera Technologies was formed in a $2.8 billion deal out of BC Partners, Medina Capital and CenturyLink. And Peak 10 acquired ViaWest in a $1.7 billion deal, while Digital Bridge acquired Vantage for $1.0 billion.

And JLL says that this wild series of mergers and acquisitions is not yet at an end. Data centers have entered an era of rising competition, and the easiest way to grow is to buy up other companies serving desirable customers, geographic areas, or selling innovative products. “Expect large-scale providers to continue on acquisition sprees.”