Digital Colony | Global Investment Firm

Digital Colony is a global investment firm with a unique focus on next generation mobile and internet infrastructure. Our team combines the sector knowledge of Digital Bridge Holdings, LLC, a leading owner and operator of digital infrastructure businesses, and the investment expertise of Colony NorthStar, Inc. (NYSE: CLNS), a leading real estate investment management firm. Together we identify and capitalize on differentiated investment opportunities within digital infrastructure.

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Investment Opportunity

In an increasingly connected world, we believe there has never been a greater need for continued development of and capital investments in digital infrastructure assets. Such assets are required to support the considerable rise in mobile data and video consumption, as well as the increased popularity of cloud computing, big data analysis, IT outsourcing, e-commerce, and other emerging technology trends.

Digital Colony is uniquely positioned at the cross-section of the high-growth technology sector and the traditional real estate and infrastructure investment landscape to capitalize on opportunities to invest in the data centers, macro cell towers, fiber networks and small cell networks that make up both wireless and internet infrastructure.

As the rest of the world catches up to the rapid growth of mobile data consumption in the U.S., we are identifying and pursuing exciting investment opportunities around the world.

We believe today's market conditions present a unique opportunity to invest in mobile and internet infrastructure

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We believe demand may be driven by increasing consumption of mobile data and video

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We expect digital infrastructure will benefit from growth and innovation in the technology sector

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As other parts of the world approach U.S. data consumption levels, they will require more digital infrastructure investment

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Investment opportunities are generally private-sector funded, requiring fewer government approvals

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Need for technical expertise to support investment in assets that traditional infrastructure investors don’t have

Investment Strategy

The four key segments of mobile and internet infrastructure – towers, data centers, small cells, and fiber – each play an important role in the way people and businesses communicate, share information, and consume content. Digital Colony plans to focus its investment efforts in these areas, diversify across all of the digital infrastructure sub-sectors, and leverage the expertise honed over the last two decades in the space.

Macro towers help networks reach the capacity levels needed to meet data traffic growth.

Macro Towers
Outdoor and Indoor small cell deployments help operators build denser networks that can reuse bandwidth more efficiently.

Small Cell/DAS
Data Centers role is essential to enable the Internet of Things (IoT): the value of IoT is largely in the data.

Data Centers
Fiber is the connectivity tissue of the industry; it is a critical component for 4G and 5G networks enabling data to travel at the speed of light.

Fiber

digital colony’s focus is to invest in four key segments of mobile and internet infrastructure to take advantage of physical infrastructure convergence ahead of the anticipated global 5G rollout and beyond.

Why digital colony?

The combination of digital infrastructure expertise from Digital Bridge with the resources and global reach of Colony NorthStar gives Digital Colony a unique competitive advantage.

Industry Leading Expertise

Our team has over 23 years of experience creating value in the digital infrastructure asset class - not just as an investor, but also through the active management of portfolio companies. We are among the few pioneers of the digital infrastructure investment landscape.
Hands-On Experience

Over two decades of demonstrated expertise as industry leaders through active engagement in the operation of macro cell towers, hyperscale data centers, enterprise data centers, fiber networks and small cell networks from the outset of this specialized asset class.
Extensive Network

Deep industry roots and strong relationships in both digital infrastructure and real estate. Our good standing with these key industry players continuously generates proprietary investment opportunities as they come to market.

Executive Leadership Team

The principals of Digital Colony collectively have 23 years of investment and operating history, having founded, operated and successfully exited from multiple businesses in the digital infrastructure space.

Marc Ganzi

Managing Partner

Marc Ganzi

Managing Partner

Marc C. Ganzi is Managing Partner and Investment Committee member at Digital Colony. He is also a founder and Chief Executive Officer of Digital Bridge Holdings, a leading global investor and owner of mobile and internet infrastructure. Since its inception in 2013, Digital Bridge has secured over $7.5 billion of debt and equity capital to acquire and invest in the development of Digital Infrastructure businesses, including DataBank, Vantage, ExteNet Systems, Vertical Bridge, Andean Tower Partners and Mexico Tower Partners. Mr. Ganzi has extensive experience with Digital Infrastructure deployment across the Americas.

Prior to Digital Bridge, Mr. Ganzi was the sole founder and CEO of Global Tower Partners (“GTP”), which grew from its inception in 2003 to become one of the largest privately-owned tower companies in the U.S. at the time of its sale to American Tower Corporation in 2013 for $4.8 billion. At GTP, Mr. Ganzi executed a series of strategic acquisitions, build-to-suit agreements with wireless carriers and financings in the credit markets. Prior to the formation of GTP, Mr. Ganzi worked as a consulting partner for DB Capital Partners in New York City from 2000 to 2002 where he was tasked with overseeing the institution’s investments in the Latin American tower sector. Prior to his tenure at DB Capital, Mr. Ganzi was the President and co-founder of Apex Site Management, one of the largest third party managers of wireless and wireline communication sites in the United States. Apex merged with SpectraSite Communications in 2000 to create one of the largest telecommunications site portfolios in the United States at the time.

Mr. Ganzi has served on numerous corporate boards including: Apex Site Management, Global Tower Partners, Olympus Outdoor Media, Mexico Tower Partners, Vertical Bridge, DataBank, Vantage Data Centers, Andean Tower Partners and ExteNet Systems. Mr. Ganzi has also served and serves on numerous non-profit boards.

Mr. Ganzi served a tenure for the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Foreign Commercial Service Department as an assistant Commercial Attaché in Madrid, Spain in 1990. In addition, Mr. Ganzi served as a Presidential Intern in the White House for the Bush administration in the Office of Special Activities and Initiatives for the Honorable Stephen M. Studdert in 1989. Mr. Ganzi received a BS from the Wharton School of Business in 1993. He is a member of the Wireless Infrastructure Associations, the Young Presidents’ Organization and the Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Ben Jenkins

Managing Partner

Ben Jenkins

Managing Partner

Ben Jenkins is Managing Partner and Investment Committee member at Digital Colony. Mr. Jenkins is also the Co-Founder and Chairman of Digital Bridge and the former Chairman of GTP. Prior to forming Digital Bridge, Mr. Jenkins was a Senior Managing Director and head of the Hong Kong office for The Blackstone Group. During his twelve years at Blackstone, Mr. Jenkins led over a dozen private equity investments (including GTP) across a range of industries and geographies, including telecommunications deals in developed and emerging markets.

Prior to joining Blackstone, Mr. Jenkins was an associate at Saunders, Karp and Megrue (now Apax) and a financial analyst at Morgan Stanley.

Mr. Jenkins has served on numerous corporate boards including: Celanese Corporation, Vanguard Health Systems, Global Tower Partners, China National Bluestar Corporation, Mexico Tower Partners, Vertical Bridge and ExteNet Systems.

Mr. Jenkins graduated with distinction from Harvard Business School in 1999 and earned a BA with honors from Stanford University in 1993.
Justin Chang

Investment Committee Member

Justin Chang

Investment Committee Member

Justin Chang is an Investment Committee member at Digital Colony. Mr. Chang is also a Managing Director of Colony NorthStar, Inc. and leads the firm’s global private equity investing activities, responsible for the identification, evaluation, consummation, and management of new investments of Colony NorthStar, with a particular focus on extending Colony NorthStar’s presence and activities on a global basis. He served as the Chief Executive Officer of Colony American Homes from its founding in 2012 to its merger with Starwood Waypoint Residential Trust in January 2016. From January 2016 to June 2017, Mr. Chang served on the Board of Trustees of Colony Starwood Homes (NYSE: SFR). Prior to joining the Colony NorthStar business in 2010, Mr. Chang was a Partner with TPG Capital, an international private equity investment firm that he joined in 1993. At TPG, Mr. Chang was involved in private equity investments across a broad range of industries including consumer products, financial services, healthcare, real estate, technology, media and telecommunications in multiple geographies in North America and Asia.

Mr. Chang has sat on a variety of boards around the world including: Beringer Wine Estates, Colony Starwood Homes, Crystal Decisions, Lenovo Group, On Semiconductor, Shenzhen Development Bank, Silverado Premium Properties and UTAC Holdings.

Mr. Chang received his MBA from Harvard Business School in 1993 and his BA in Economics and Political Science from Yale University in 1989. He currently serves on the Yale President’s Council on International Activities, the Yale Development Council and the Board of Advisors of the Yale Jackson Institute for Global Affairs.
Jonathan Grunzweig

Investment Committee Member

Jonathan Grunzweig

Investment Committee Member

Jonathan Grunzweig is an Investment Committee member at Digital Colony. Mr. Grunzweig is also the Global Head of Special Situations of Colony NorthStar, Inc., having previously held the position of Executive Director and Global Head of Special Situations of Colony Capital, Inc., the predecessor to Colony NorthStar. Mr. Grunzweig helps develop Colony NorthStar’s global growth strategy across markets, platforms and asset classes. Until the combination of Colony Capital, LLC and Colony Financial, Inc., Mr. Grunzweig served as global Chief Investment Officer of Colony Capital, LLC, overseeing the sourcing, structuring, execution and management of all investments and divestments on a global basis. Prior to joining the Colony Capital business in 1999, Mr. Grunzweig was a Partner with the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, where he specialized in corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions.

Mr. Grunzweig has sat on a variety of boards including: Challenger Limited, Accor, S.A., Adaptive Studios and Kerzner International.

Mr. Grunzweig received his Bachelor of Arts from Cornell University in 1985, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He received a Juris Doctor, cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1988.

Investment Team

Jeff Ginsberg

Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer

Jeff Ginsberg

Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer

Jeff Ginsberg is a Managing Director and the Chief Operating Officer of both Digital Colony and Digital Bridge. He has more than 30 years of entrepreneurial and executive experience in the telecom infrastructure and services, real estate and private equity sectors.

Prior to joining Digital Bridge, Mr. Ginsberg was a Managing Director and Operating Partner of Mistral Equity Partners, a consumer-focused private equity fund. At Mistral, Mr. Ginsberg was a member of the Investment Committee, and served as interim CEO of several portfolio companies undergoing transition.

Before joining Mistral in 2008, Mr. Ginsberg was Executive Chairman of InfoHighway Communications, a telecommunications services provider, and CEO/co-founder of its predecessor entity Eureka Broadband. During his tenure, Eureka/InfoHighway led an industry roll-up, raised over $200 million in capital, implemented an aggressive balance sheet and operational restructuring, and successfully exited in a sale to Broadview Networks.

Prior to co-founding Eureka, Mr. Ginsberg was co-founder and Executive Chairman of Apex Site Management, which grew from its inception in 1995 to become the largest third-party manager of wireless and wireline sites in the United States at the time of its sale to SpectraSite in January 2000. Mr. Ginsberg was also the co-founder of Horizon Cellular Group, which grew from a start-up in 1991 (in partnership with McCaw Cellular) to become one of the largest cellular system operators in the country prior to the sale of the business. Mr. Ginsberg received a B.S. in Finance and Accounting from The Wharton School in 1986.
Tom Yanagi

Managing Director

Tom Yanagi

Managing Director

Tom Yanagi is a Managing Director at both Digital Colony and Digital Bridge. He is an experienced deal professional with over 20 years of principal investing and asset management experience. Prior to joining Digital Bridge, Mr. Yanagi was the Head of the Communications Infrastructure Team in New York for Macquarie Infrastructure Partners (“MIP”). During his 13 years with Macquarie, Mr. Yanagi was involved in a number of investments in sectors including telecommunications, energy and transportation. Most notably, he sourced MIP’s investment in GTP and was involved with the oversight and management of that investment through to the sale in October of 2013. In addition to leading transactions, Mr. Yanagi maintained an asset management role and served on the Board of Directors for a number of MIP portfolio companies, including GTP.

Prior to MIP, Mr. Yanagi worked in private equity at Nomura Securities and Madison Investment Partners.

Mr. Yanagi received his MBA from the Columbia Business School in 1997 and his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Rutgers College in 1989.
Kevin Smithen

Managing Director

Kevin Smithen

Managing Director

Kevin Smithen is a Managing Director, Strategy and Capital Formation at Digital Colony. He also serves as Managing Director at Digital Bridge. Mr. Smithen brings over 22 years of investing and M&A experience in global communications services and infrastructure.

Prior to Digital Bridge, Mr. Smithen spent over five years in the equity research division of Macquarie Securities (USA) Inc., most recently as Managing Director, US and LatAm Telecom Services and Infrastructure and Sector Head for Technology, Telecom, and Media (“TMT”). He has been recognized by StarMine, Bloomberg and Institutional Investor for his involvement in the TMT sector. Mr. Smithen has been a frequent contributor on telco infrastructure to CNBC, Bloomberg TV, the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and other leading financial media companies. Additionally, Mr. Smithen has moderated and spoken on several panels at tower, fiber and service provider industry trade shows.

Prior to joining Macquarie, Mr. Smithen was a portfolio manager for Stetson Street Capital, a market-neutral TMT hedge fund in Chicago. From 2001 to 2008, Kevin worked as a senior analyst and Portfolio Manager for the Lazard Global Opportunities Fund and the Lazard TMT Advantage Fund, both part of Lazard Asset Management, a leading holder of telecom equities globally. Prior to Lazard, Mr. Smithen was the first investment analyst at Coatue Capital, a leading TMT sector hedge fund. Mr. Smithen began his career as an investment banker at Smith Barney, Inc. (Citigroup) in the Media and Telecommunications Group.

Mr. Smithen earned a BA magna cum laude with Distinction from Duke University in 1995.
Sadiq Malik

Principal

Sadiq Malik

Principal

Sadiq Malik is a Principal at both Digital Colony and Digital Bridge. Mr. Malik is a seasoned investment professional with in-depth investing experience in private, distressed and public equities across a variety of industries.

Prior to joining Digital Bridge, Mr. Malik was a co-founding partner of Oskie Capital, a public and private equity firm, which invested in companies undergoing positive business transformations and corporate change. During his time there, Mr. Malik led Oskie’s investments in the digital infrastructure space including datacenters and satellite operators and was also involved in Oskie’s cable investments.

Before Oskie Capital, Mr. Malik worked on President Obama’s Auto Task Force at the U.S. Department of the Treasury during the financial crisis in 2009. In this role, he helped take General Motors through its bankruptcy reorganization, which remains one of the largest bankruptcies in U.S. history. After its completion, Mr. Malik helped the head of the Auto Task Force, Steven Rattner, chronicle the experience in a book titled “Overhaul: An Insider’s Account of the Obama Administration’s Emergency Rescue of the Auto Industry”.

Prior to working for the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Mr. Malik was an investment professional at Och-Ziff Capital (2007-2008), The Blackstone Group (2003-2005) and Morgan Stanley (2000-2003).

Mr. Malik earned an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School in 2007 and a BA, summa cum laude, in Economics from Dartmouth College in 2000.
Jon Mauck

Managing Director and Operating Partner, Data Centers

Jon Mauck

Managing Director and Operating Partner, Data Centers

Jon Mauck is a Managing Director at both Digital Colony and Digital Bridge. Prior to joining Digital Bridge, Mr. Mauck was the CFO of IO Data Centers (“IO”), a privately held data center services company. During Mr. Mauck’s tenure at IO, the Company scaled to more than 1.5 million square feet, expanded into Europe and Asia and introduced the leading software defined data center platform. Mr. Mauck led IO’s financing strategy and established the infrastructure and systems to support expansion and significant revenue growth over three years.

Prior to IO, Mr. Mauck was a Managing Director in Citigroup’s Technology, Media and Telecom franchise and the Global Head of the Technology Infrastructure team. During his 11 years at Citigroup, Mr. Mauck advised companies on more than $40 billion in transactions, including acquisitions, mergers and strategic investments for many of the leading public and private data center companies.

Prior to his career as an investment banker, Mr. Mauck was an attorney at Thacher Proffitt and Wood in New York City focused on corporate law and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Mauck earned a bachelor’s degree, with honors, in economics from George Mason University in 1993 and a law degree, with distinction, from Boston College in 1997, where he served as Editor of the Uniform Commercial Code Reporter Digest.
Philip Cooper

Managing Director and Operating Partner, Towers

Philip Cooper

Managing Director and Operating Partner, Towers

Philip Cooper is a Managing Director at both Digital Colony and Digital Bridge. Mr. Cooper leads tower management activities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Mr. Cooper has significant experience as an operating and finance executive in the telecommunications infrastructure industry, with an emphasis on emerging markets.

Most recently, Mr. Cooper was with Apollo Towers Myanmar, where as Chief Financial Officer through July 2015, he played a key role in the startup and establishment of Apollo as the leading tower company in Myanmar. At Apollo, he was responsible for two landmark financing transactions: securing Myanmar’s first ever ECA backed trade financing and a long-term debt financing from the US DFI – The Overseas Private Investment Corporation.

Prior to Apollo, Mr. Cooper worked with Eaton Towers as Group Commercial Manager, where he managed a number of tower portfolio acquisitions in sub Saharan Africa. Mr. Cooper began his career at Morgan Stanley & Co. and Deutsche Bank.
Jon DeLuca

Managing Director and Operating Partner, Fiber

Jon DeLuca

Managing Director and Operating Partner, Fiber

Jon DeLuca is a Managing Director at both Digital Colony and Digital Bridge. Mr. DeLuca most recently served as President & CEO and member of the board of directors of Wilcon Holdings, LLC from 2011, when he founded the business with Pamlico Capital, until its sale to Crown Castle International Corp. in 2017. Based in Los Angeles, Wilcon is a communications infrastructure provider focused on the fiber, small cell and data center markets. Wilcon owns and operates one of the largest fiber-optic networks in Southern California, offering dark fiber and optical services via diverse routes connecting major data centers, enterprise locations and wireless communications sites. The company also owns and operates data center facilities providing dense fiber interconnection infrastructure in downtown Los Angeles.

Mr. DeLuca previously worked at FiberNet Telecom Group, Inc., a publicly-held communications service provider based in New York, where he served as President & CEO, and a member of the board of directors, from 2005 to 2009, and as Senior Vice President – Finance and Chief Financial Officer from 1999 to 2005. FiberNet owned and operated metro fiber-optic networks and data center facilities serving New York and New Jersey. The company was acquired by Zayo Group, LLC in 2009.

Earlier in his career, Mr. DeLuca worked in investment banking at Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. and Lazard Freres & Co. LLC. He earned a BA from Trinity College in 1992.