Ares Management Takes Minority Equity Stake in Sabey Data Center Properties, Backed by National Real Estate Advisors

Sabey Corporation and National Real Estate Advisors announced July 8 that Ares Management Management's Secondaries funds have made a minority equity investment in Sabey Data Centers (SDCP), a privately held, fully integrated owner, developer, and operator of data centers across the United States.

The transaction expands the ownership base of SDCP, which is jointly owned and governed by Sabey Corporation and National Real Estate Advisors — the latter acting as discretionary investment manager on behalf of its institutional clients. Evercore (NYSE: EVR) and Citizens Capital Markets & Advisory, a subsidiary of Citizens Financial Group (NYSE: CFG), served as financial advisors to SDCP on the transaction.

Platform Scale and Growth Runway

SDCP's current portfolio spans six energized campuses totaling approximately 251 megawatts of operating capacity. According to the announcement, the platform has the opportunity to roughly triple that output by 2036 on existing land holdings — a development pipeline that factored prominently into the investment rationale.

Ares described the platform as offering access to "a quality existing operating portfolio leased to a broad set of predominantly investment-grade tenants, including a mix of large enterprises and hyperscalers, and a sizeable land bank to support continued growth," according to Jamie Sunday, Co-head of Real Estate Secondaries at Ares.

"We are very pleased to partner with Sabey and National to support the next phase of SDCP's growth," Sunday said in a statement. "This investment reflects our conviction in the sector and the strength of our Secondaries platform in providing flexible capital solutions to leading real estate fund managers and operators."

Strategic Rationale for All Three Partners

For Sabey Corporation and National Real Estate Advisors, the transaction adds institutional capital with capacity for future expansion. The deal uses Ares' Real Estate Secondaries platform — a structure designed to provide flexible capital by investing into existing vehicles and operating platforms.

Tim Mirick, President of SDCP, said the investment validates the platform's long-term positioning. "Welcoming Ares as an investor is a strong endorsement of SDCP's platform, our team and the long-term demand we're seeing for scaled data center infrastructure," Mirick said. "With Sabey, National and now Ares aligned behind the business, we are well positioned to execute our disciplined growth plan and deliver the mission-critical capacity our customers need."

Jeffrey Kanne, President and CEO of National Real Estate Advisors, said the transaction builds on the existing Sabey-National partnership. "Sabey and National have built a longstanding partnership around this platform, and we're pleased to welcome Ares as part of that continued relationship," Kanne said. "This investment adds an additional institutional partner that aligns with and supports our disciplined approach to growing our data center portfolio."

Sector Backdrop: AI Demand and Capital Constraints

The announcement cited strong demand for scaled data center infrastructure driven by cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and enterprise workloads as a key factor underpinning the investment.

SDCP's existing 251 megawatts of operating capacity — combined with its land bank capable of supporting a tripling of output by 2036 — positions the platform as a development-ready asset in that environment.

National Real Estate Advisors, an independently operated subsidiary of the National Electrical Benefit Fund (NEBF), has concentrated its portfolios primarily in multifamily, data centers, healthcare-related, and mixed-use facilities. The firm applies what it describes as a development-led approach to value creation across separate accounts and commingled investment vehicles.

Sabey Corporation, which has more than 50 years of experience designing, constructing, and operating mission-critical and technical facilities, remains a co-owner and governing partner of SDCP alongside National following the transaction.

Advisors

Evercore and Citizens Capital Markets & Advisory served as financial advisors to Sabey Data Center Properties on the transaction. No financial terms were disclosed.

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Note: Per the companies, operating megawatts figures include 76 MW of built powered shell capacity. Information as of March 31, 2026.