Mr. Recep Kendircioglu reports

MANULIFE INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT SIGNS DEFINITIVE AGREEMENT TO ACQUIRE A CONTROLLING INTEREST IN DATA CENTER PLATFORM SERVERFARM

On behalf of Manulife Infrastructure Fund II and its affiliates, Manulife Investment Management (Manulife IM), the global wealth and asset management segment of Manulife Financial Corp., has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a controlling interest in Serverfarm, a data centre owner and operator. The significant investment by Manulife IM, together with support from existing shareholders, will provide capital to Serverfarm to continue its expansion across North America, Europe and Israel, to capitalize on attractive market opportunities.

Serverfarm currently operates a portfolio of eight data centres across North America, Europe and Israel that aggregate more than 1.5 million gross square feet and 125 MW (megawatts) of IT (information technology) capacity, and it has secured additional land for future data centre developments.

"Avner and the Serverfarm team have built a high-quality data centre portfolio and growth platform that is well positioned to capitalize on the strong secular tailwinds in the data centre market," said Recep Kendircioglu, global head of infrastructure, Manulife Investment Management. "We are excited about the company's future and our ability to support Serverfarm through its next phase of growth on behalf of our clients."

"Partnering with Manulife Investment Management, an investor that shares Serverfarm's vision for growth and customer service, will allow us to effectively address the next wave of demand from our existing and new customers," said Avner Papouchado, founder and chief executive officer of Serverfarm. "Our new relationship with Manulife Investment Management provides Serverfarm with additional expertise and new capital to execute on a number of attractive development opportunities, and give our customers a long-term growth runway."

The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of 2023 after the satisfaction of customary closing conditions, including the receipt of certain regulatory approvals.

Citigroup Global Markets Inc. is serving as lead financial adviser, TD Securities (USA) LLC is serving as financial adviser, and Dentons U.S. LLP and Alston & Bird LLP are serving as legal counsel to Serverfarm.

TAP Advisors LLC is serving as financial adviser, and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is serving as legal counsel to Manulife Investment Management.

About Manulife Financial Corp.

Manulife Investment Management is the global brand for the global wealth and asset management segment of Manulife Financial. It draws on more than a century of financial stewardship and the full resources of its parent company to serve individuals, institutions and retirement plan members worldwide. Headquartered in Toronto, its extensive capabilities in public and private markets are strengthened by an investment footprint that spans 19 geographies. Manulife IM complements these capabilities by providing access to a network of unaffiliated asset managers from around the world. It is committed to investing responsibly across its businesses. Manulife IM develops innovative global frameworks for sustainable investing, collaboratively engage with companies in its securities portfolios, and maintains a high standard of stewardship where it owns and operates assets, and the company believes in supporting financial well-being through its workplace retirement plans. Today, plan sponsors around the world rely on the company's retirement plan administration and investment expertise to help their employees plan for, save for and live a better retirement. Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions.

About Serverfarm LLC

Serverfarm is an established multiregional data centre platform that provides data centre solutions to key hyperscale, webscale, technology and network customers. These data centre solutions include co-location, data centre design and IT infrastructure management, through Serverfarm's proprietary InCommand DMaaS (data-management-as-a-service) technology.