BOULDER, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Zayo Group Holdings, Inc., the global leader in Communications Infrastructure, announced today the appointment of Steve Smith as Chief Executive Officer. Digital Colony and EQT selected Smith to lead Zayo based on his proven track record scaling digital infrastructure companies into leading global providers in their respective markets.
“I’m excited to join Zayo as it begins its journey as a private company backed by two of the world’s largest infrastructure investors,” said Smith. “Dan and I have known one another and partnered together as Zayo and Equinix emerged as the global leaders in their respective digital infrastructure segments.”
“I am pleased to hand the Zayo baton to Steve, who I respect and have enjoyed working with over the years,” added Dan Caruso. “I am proud of what Zayo has accomplished since its launch in 2007. Under Steve’s stewardship, I’m certain Zayo will solidify its position as the world’s leading provider of bandwidth connectivity.” Caruso will support Smith as he transitions to CEO and will continue at Zayo as a Board Director.
Smith has over 30 years of expertise as a global leader of tech companies. He is a West Point graduate and an 8-year Army veteran. Smith was recently a Managing Director of the Private Equity firm GI Partners. While CEO of Equinix for over 10 years, Smith grew the Equity Value by 17X, from $2 billion to $34 billion, while growing Equinix revenue from $400 million to $4.4 billion across 200 data centers, in 52 markets, serving over 10,000 customers. Smith has had board of director and senior executive roles at several additional tech companies, including F5 Networks, Hewlett-Packard, EDS, NetApp and NEXTDC.
“Steve’s track record successfully managing growing digital infrastructure businesses while maintaining high levels of operational reliability and excellence is the perfect fit for Zayo as it enters the next phase of its growth,” said Marc Ganzi, President and Chief Executive Officer of Colony Capital, Inc. (NYSE: CLNY) and CEO of Digital Colony. “Steve will have big shoes to fill. Dan built an amazing company in just over a decade and we look forward to benefiting from his contributions as a key member of our Board of Directors.”
“Dan has built and developed Zayo from a startup into one of the defining companies of the digital transformation,” added Jan Vesely, Partner at EQT Partners, “and we are proud to continue working with Dan and Zayo on our ambitious growth plans for the company. Since closing the transaction our confidence in the critical role Zayo plays in the digital infrastructure landscape has only grown. Steve, as a proven leader with unmatched operational and leadership experience in the industry, is ideally situated to lead the Company as it continues to identify opportunities to enhance and expand its essential service offerings and connectivity solutions.”
For more information about Zayo, please visit zayo.com.
About Zayo Group
Zayo Group Holdings, Inc. provides mission-critical bandwidth to the world’s most impactful companies, fueling the innovations that are transforming our society. Zayo’s 133,000-mile network in North America and Europe includes extensive metro connectivity to thousands of buildings and data centers. Zayo’s communications infrastructure solutions include dark fiber, private data networks, wavelengths, Ethernet, dedicated internet access and data center connectivity solutions. Zayo owns and operates a Tier 1 IP backbone and through its CloudLink service, Zayo provides low-latency private connectivity that attaches enterprises to their public cloud environments. Zayo serves wireless and wireline carriers, media, tech, content, finance, healthcare and other large enterprises. For more information, visit zayo.com.
About Digital Colony
Digital Colony is one of the world’s largest dedicated digital infrastructure investment firms with over US$20 billion in assets under management. Launched in 2017 by Digital Bridge and Colony Capital, Digital Colony brings together Digital Bridge’s industry, operational and investment expertise, and Colony Capital’s (NYSE: CLNY) global operating platform and capital markets access. Digital Colony is a leading investor, owner and operator enabling the next generation of mobile and internet connectivity through investments in mission-critical infrastructure around the globe. Headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London and Singapore, the firm closed its first discretionary fund dedicated solely to investing in digital infrastructure with approximately US$4.1 billion in commitments in 2019. For more information, please visit www.digitalcolony.com.
About EQT
EQT is a purpose-driven global investment organization with more than EUR 75 billion in raised capital and around EUR 50 billion in assets under management across 20 active funds. EQT funds have portfolio companies in Europe, Asia and the US with total sales of more than EUR 27 billion and approximately 159,000 employees. EQT works with portfolio companies to achieve sustainable growth, operational excellence and market leadership. More info: www.eqtgroup.com.
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