MENLO PARK, Calif., Dec. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- GI Partners, a leading middle market private equity firm, announced today the acquisition of a data center and office building in San Diego.  The investment was made through DataCore, L.P. ("DataCore"), a fully discretionary core real estate fund managed by GI Partners that was launched earlier this year with the California State Teachers' Retirement System ("CalSTRS").

CalSTRS created DataCore as a core investment vehicle to invest in technology-focused real estate in the U.S., including data centers, internet gateways, corporate campuses for technology tenants and life science properties located in primary MSAs and leased to industry leading tenants.  This is the first investment for the DataCore fund. 

DataCore acquired the two-story, 166,892 square foot property located at 9305 Lightwave Avenue in the Kearny Mesa submarket of San Diego.  The fully occupied building is leased to American Internet Services, an enterprise-class data center, cloud, connectivity and managed services company, and San Diego Gas & Electric Co., an S&P "A" rated public utility that provides energy service to 3.4 million people through 1.4 million electric meters and 850,000 natural gas meters in San Diego and southern Orange counties.

"We are pleased to have formed this relationship with CalSTRS that leverages our expertise and strong reputation for investing in technology-advantaged properties.  This property represents DataCore's initial acquisition, features extensive data center improvements and is leased to strong tenants in their respective fields.  We have an active pipeline and we will continue to identify and acquire core technology real estate investments on behalf of DataCore," said Rick Magnuson, Executive Managing Director of GI Partners.

DataCore represents the continuation of a long-standing and successful relationship between CalSTRS and GI Partners.  CalSTRS is a limited partner in GI Partners Fund II and III and, earlier this year, GI Partners advised CalSTRS on its acquisition of LCOR, a fully integrated investment, management and development company focused on large-scale multifamily, commercial, and mixed-use properties.

About CalSTRS
The California State Teachers' Retirement System, with a portfolio valued at $154.8 billion as of October 31, 2012, is the largest educator-only pension fund in the world. CalSTRS administers a hybrid retirement system, consisting of traditional defined benefit, cash balance and voluntary defined contribution plans, as well as disability and survivor benefits. CalSTRS serves California's 856,000 public school educators and their families from the state's 1,600 school districts, county offices of education and community college districts.

About GI Partners
Established in 2001 and with 46 investment professionals, GI Partners is a leading private investment firm with investments in North America and Western Europe. The firm is active in a number of key sectors, including IT and business services, specialist healthcare, financial services, leisure, retail, logistics and media. Since inception, the firm has secured $8.5 billion of equity capital commitments from recognized institutional private equity and real estate investors in the U.S., Europe, Asia and the Middle East. For more information, please visit www.gipartners.com.

Contact: Chris Tofalli
(914) 834-4334
chris@tofallipr.com

SOURCE GI Partners