SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Digital
Realty (NYSE: DLR), a leading global provider of data center,
colocation and interconnection solutions, announced today the
appointment of Gregory S. Wright as
Chief Investment Officer. In addition, Digital Realty
announced the appointment of Mark
Smith as Managing Director, Asia Pacific. Mr. Wright
will report to Chief Executive Officer A.
William Stein and will be responsible for spearheading
Digital Realty's capital allocation activities. Mr. Smith
will report to Chief Financial Officer Andrew P. Power and will be responsible for
overseeing Digital Realty's operations in the Asia Pacific region. Mr. Smith will
begin his new role in December 2018
and Mr. Wright will join Digital Realty in January 2019.
"Greg's extensive strategic financial advisory experience across
real estate, infrastructure and other related sectors makes him a
strong addition to our team," said Mr. Stein. "In his
capacity as an external advisor, his strategic and financial
expertise have been integral to the execution of transactions that
have been truly transformational for Digital Realty. He
served as lead M&A advisor on our $1.9
billion acquisition of Telx and our $7.8 billion merger with DuPont Fabros as well as
our recent $1.8 billion Ascenty
acquisition. We are confident that his unique combination of
financial expertise and intimate familiarity with our business and
team will prove invaluable as we continue to build upon this
positive momentum in the years ahead."
Mr. Wright commented, "I am honored to be named Digital Realty's
Chief Investment Officer, and eager to begin working with this
world-class company on a deeper level. Digital Realty is
known as an industry leader, and I look forward to working with my
new colleagues to support the strategic expansion of the Digital
Realty platform around the globe."
Mr. Wright joins Digital Realty with significant investment
banking experience, most recently as Co-Head of Americas Real
Estate and Managing Director of the Real Estate, Gaming &
Lodging Group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. During his
tenure at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Mr. Wright provided
strategic and financial advice to clients across a broad spectrum
of real estate, infrastructure and related sectors, including
Digital Realty.
Mr. Wright's notable engagements include advising Equity Office
Properties Trust on its sale to funds managed by The Blackstone
Group, The JBG Companies on its merger with Vornado Realty Trust's
Washington, D.C. business and DCT
Industrial Trust on its sale to Prologis, Inc. In addition,
he advised Douglas Emmett, Paramount
Group, Inc. and Americold Realty Trust on their respective
groundbreaking initial public offerings. Prior to his time at
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Mr. Wright served as a Managing
Director in the Real Estate & Lodging Group at Citigroup where
he was responsible for originating and executing strategic advisory
assignments and general client coverage. Prior to Citigroup,
Mr. Wright worked at Trammell Crow Company in Washington, D.C. where he was a member of the
finance team responsible for acquisitions, dispositions, and joint
ventures as well as construction and permanent financings across
multiple product types including industrial, office and
retail. Mr. Wright received a Bachelor's degree in Finance
from the University of Maryland and an
MBA from the University of Michigan.
"We are excited to welcome Mark
Smith to the Digital Realty team," said Mr. Power.
"Mark has demonstrated significant business leadership in the
Asia Pacific region, including
spearheading prominent companies' cloud services growth.
Given his deep institutional expertise, we expect Mark will be
instrumental in driving our key strategic initiatives in this
critical region."
Mr. Smith said, "Digital Realty has established itself as the
pre-eminent provider of high-quality data center and colocation
solutions across the globe. I look forward to joining Digital
Realty and helping this outstanding global company capitalize on
the many opportunities in the rapidly evolving and fast-growing
APAC market."
Mr. Smith joins Digital Realty with extensive industry
experience and well over two decades of experience in Asia, most recently as Managing Director,
Asia at Zettagrid where he
actively explored new growth opportunities throughout the
region. Previously, Mr. Smith served as Managing Director,
Cloud Services, Asia Pacific and
Japan at VMware where he was
responsible for managing the Cloud Services Business, including a
network of over 600 service providers, and also led the launch of
VMware's public cloud offering in Asia Pacific. Prior to
VMware, Mr. Smith led Asia Pacific
for CenturyLink and Savvis Communications.
For Additional Information
Andrew P. Power
Chief Financial Officer
Digital Realty
(415) 738-6500
Investor Relations
John J.
Stewart / Maria S. Lukens
Digital Realty
(415) 738-6500
investorrelations@digitalrealty.com
Media Inquiries
John
Christiansen / Scott Lindlaw
/ Lindsay Andrews
Sard Verbinnen & Co.
(415) 618-8750
About Digital Realty
Digital Realty supports the data center, colocation and
interconnection strategies of more than 2,300 firms across its
secure, network-rich portfolio of data centers located throughout
North America, Europe, Asia
and Australia. Digital Realty's clients include domestic and
international companies of all sizes, ranging from cloud and
information technology services, communications and social
networking to financial services, manufacturing, energy,
healthcare, and consumer products.
https://www.digitalrealty.com/
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements which are
based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that
involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes
and results to differ materially, including statements related to
our plans and organization. These risks and uncertainties include,
among others, the following: reduced demand for data centers or
decreases in information technology spending; decreased rental
rates, increased operating costs or increased vacancy rates;
increased competition or available supply of data center space; the
suitability of our data centers and data center infrastructure,
delays or disruptions in connectivity or availability of power, or
failures or breaches of our physical and information security
infrastructure or services; our dependence upon significant
customers, bankruptcy or insolvency of a major customer or a
significant number of smaller customers, or defaults on or
non-renewal of leases by customers; breaches of our obligations or
restrictions under our contracts with our customers; our inability
to successfully develop and lease new properties and development
space, and delays or unexpected costs in development of properties;
the impact of current global and local economic, credit and market
conditions; our inability to retain data center space that we lease
or sublease from third parties; difficulty acquiring or operating
properties in foreign jurisdictions; our failure to realize the
intended benefits from, or disruptions to our plans and operations
or unknown or contingent liabilities related to, our recent
acquisitions; our failure to successfully integrate and operate
acquired or developed properties or businesses; difficulties in
identifying properties to acquire and completing acquisitions;
risks related to joint venture investments, including as a result
of our lack of control of such investments; risks associated with
using debt to fund our business activities, including re-financing
and interest rate risks, our failure to repay debt when due,
adverse changes in our credit ratings or our breach of covenants or
other terms contained in our loan facilities and agreements; our
failure to obtain necessary debt and equity financing, and our
dependence on external sources of capital; financial market
fluctuations and changes in foreign currency exchange rates;
adverse economic or real estate developments in our industry or the
industry sectors that we sell to, including risks relating to
decreasing real estate valuations and impairment charges and
goodwill and other intangible asset impairment charges; our
inability to manage our growth effectively; losses in excess of our
insurance coverage; environmental liabilities and risks related to
natural disasters; our inability to comply with rules and
regulations applicable to our company; our failure to maintain our
status as a REIT for federal income tax purposes; our operating
partnership's failure to qualify as a partnership for federal
income tax purposes; restrictions on our ability to engage in
certain business activities; and changes in local, state, federal
and international laws and regulations, including related to
taxation, real estate and zoning laws, and increases in real
property tax rates. For a further list and description of such
risks and uncertainties, see the reports and other filings by the
company with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including
the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2017 and Quarterly
Reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 2018, June 30,
2018 and September 30,
2018. The company disclaims any intention or obligation to
update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise.
View original
content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/digital-realty-appoints-gregory-s-wright-as-chief-investment-officer-and-mark-smith-as-managing-director-asia-pacific-300755250.html
SOURCE Digital Realty