CyrusOne and CoreSite will be acquired for $15 billion and $10 billion, respectively, making them the largest deal in the data center industry to date. News of these pending acquisitions pushes the level of data center M&A activity to new heights.

As of mid-November, the total number of deals completed this year has far surpassed the record set last year. While the total deal value completed so far this year has not reached 2020 levels, the CoreSite acquisition is expected to officially close by the end of the year, making 2021 deal value at least 16% higher than last year.

Several other deals were agreed but awaiting an official conclusion, the final number for 2021 could be higher. Importantly, CyrusOne and CoreSite are the third-and fourth-largest data center operators in the U.S., with fifth-and sixth-ranked QTS and Cyxtera also changing hands earlier this year. While CoreSite and QTS are almost entirely focused on the U.S. market, both CyrusOne and Cyxtera have some substantial international operations. CyrusOne, Cyxtera and CoreSite are all in the top ten by global revenue.

CoreSite is being acquired by American Tower, its first real big move into the data center market. CyrusOne is being acquired by investment firms KKR and Global Investment Partners. The continued boom in data center capacity demand, with both companies having massive data centers and a strong presence in many of the most important U.S. subway markets, has driven high valuations.

Prior to these announcements, the largest data center M&A deals were Blackstone’s $10 billion acquisition of QTS, Digital Realty’s $8.4 billion acquisition of Interxion, Digital Realty’s $7.6 billion acquisition of DuPont Fabros, and China’s Jiangsu Shagang Group’s acquisition of Global Switch (its eventual worth more than $8 billion). Some of the other most prominent acquirers include Equinix, EQT, Digital Bridge (Colony), CyrusOne, GDS, Macquarie and Mapletree.