Investment firms Stonepeak and Columbia Capital (ColCap) are to acquire a German data center provider.

The companies this week announced that they have entered into an agreement to acquire IPB Internet Provider in Berlin GmbH. Set to close in Q4 2025, terms of the deal were not shared.

Founded in 1997 and family-owned, IPB was a founding member of the Berlin Commercial Internet Exchange (BCIX) and established Berlin’s first carrier-neutral colocation data center in 2003. Opening a second location in 2010, it today operates two facilities around the German capital and offers colocation under the Carrier Colo brand.

“Stonepeak and Columbia Capital are ideal partners for IPB as we embark on this next chapter,” said Steffen David, founder and managing director of IPB. “We are confident that their disciplined investment approach and combined digital infrastructure expertise, expansive industry relationships, and deep experience scaling data center businesses will enhance our customers’ experience and accelerate our vision for the business.”

Stonepeak is an infrastructure and real estate-focused alternative investment firm with more than $70 billion of assets under management. Including the recently launched Montera, Stonepeak’s data center investments span Cologix and CoreSite in North America; Digital Edge and PDG in APAC; and Cirion in Latin America. Its data center portfolio comprises more than 100 facilities and 500MW of capacity globally, with another 400MW+ in the development pipeline.

“As land and power constraints in Europe’s Tier I data center markets persist, markets such as Berlin are becoming increasingly important,” said Andrew Thomas, senior managing director at Stonepeak. “IPB is the primary connectivity hub in Berlin, well-positioned to capitalize on cloud demand overflow to Tier II markets and the shift to AI inferencing. We’re excited to again partner with Columbia Capital, and to build on IPB’s strong foundation and support its next phase of growth.”

Founded in 1989 and managing around $7bn in assets, Columbia Capital is an investor in US operator Centra, data center part developer Tract, and Digital Realty’s Teraco in South Africa. It has previously invested in Cologix and euNetworks.

“IPB has maintained connectivity leadership in Berlin and also co-founded BCIX, the largest IXP in Berlin, and we believe its strategic importance to Berlin’s expanding digital ecosystem will only increase,” said Patrick Hendy, partner at Columbia Capital. “We look forward to leveraging our experience scaling digital infrastructure businesses to support IPB on its growth journey.”