8-K

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 OR 15(d)d

of The Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported): September 17, 2019

DIGITAL REALTY TRUST, INC.

DIGITAL REALTY TRUST, L.P.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Maryland	001-32336	26-0081711
Maryland	000-54023	20-2402955
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)	(Commission File Number)	(IRS Employer Identification No.)

Four Embarcadero Center, Suite 3200
San Francisco	,	California	94111
(Address of principal executive offices)			(Zip Code)

(415) 738-6500

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Check the appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously satisfy the filing obligation of the registrant under any of the following provisions:

☐ Written communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR 230.425)

☐ Soliciting material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14a-12)

☐ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.14d-2(b))

☐ Pre-commencement communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13e-4(c))

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class	Trading symbol(s)	Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock	DLR	New York Stock Exchange
Series C Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Stock	DLR Pr C	New York Stock Exchange
Series G Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock	DLR Pr G	New York Stock Exchange
Series I Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock	DLR Pr I	New York Stock Exchange
Series J Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock	DLR Pr J	New York Stock Exchange
Series K Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock	DLR Pr K	New York Stock Exchange

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933 (§230.405 of this chapter) or Rule 12b-2 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Digital Realty Trust, Inc.	Emerging growth company	☐
Digital Realty Trust, L.P.	Emerging growth company	☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.

Digital Realty Trust, Inc.	☐
Digital Realty Trust, L.P.	☐

Introductory Note

Unless otherwise indicated or unless the context requires otherwise, all references in this report to “we,” “us,” “our,” “our company,” “the company” or “Digital Realty” refer to Digital Realty Trust, Inc., together with its consolidated subsidiaries, including Digital Realty Trust, L.P., our “operating partnership.”

Item 8.01.    Other Events.

Extension of Forward Equity Contracts

On September 17, 2019, we amended the forward sale agreements originally dated September 24, 2018 with each of Bank of America, N.A. and Citibank, N.A. (each as further described in our Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on September 27, 2018) to extend the maturity date of such forward sales agreements from September 27, 2019 to September 25, 2020. We intend (subject to our right to elect cash or net share settlement and subject to certain conditions) to deliver, upon physical settlement of such forward sale agreements on one or more dates specified by us occurring no later than September 25, 2020, an aggregate of 9,775,000 shares of our common stock to the forward purchasers in exchange for cash proceeds per share equal to the applicable forward sale price as provided in the amended forward sale agreements.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This Current Report on Form 8-K contains certain “forward-looking” statements as that term is defined by Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. Statements that are predictive in nature, that depend on or relate to future events or conditions, or that include words such as “believes”, “anticipates”, “expects”, “may”, “will”, “would,” “should”, “estimates”, “could”, “intends”, “plans” or other similar expressions are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve significant known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the company’s actual results in future periods to differ materially from those projected or contemplated in the forward-looking statements as a result of, but not limited to, the following factors: reduced demand for data centers or decreases in information technology spending; decreased rental rates, increased operating costs or increased vacancy rates; increased competition or available supply of data center space; the suitability of our data centers and data center infrastructure, delays or disruptions in connectivity or availability of power, or failures or breaches of our physical and information security infrastructure or services; our dependence upon significant customers, bankruptcy or insolvency of a major customer or a significant number of smaller customers, or defaults on or non-renewal of leases by customers; breaches of our obligations or restrictions under our contracts with our customers; our inability to successfully develop and lease new properties and development space, and delays or unexpected costs in development of properties; the impact of current global and local economic, credit and market conditions; our inability to retain data center space that we lease or sublease from third parties; difficulties managing an international business and acquiring or operating properties in foreign jurisdictions and unfamiliar metropolitan areas; our failure to realize the intended benefits from, or disruptions to our plans and operations or unknown or contingent liabilities related to, our recent acquisitions; our failure to successfully integrate and operate acquired or developed properties or businesses; difficulties in identifying properties to acquire and completing acquisitions; risks related to joint venture investments, including as a result of our lack of control of such investments; risks associated with using debt to fund our business activities, including re-financing and interest rate risks, our failure to repay debt when due, adverse changes in our credit ratings or our breach of covenants or other terms contained in our loan facilities and agreements; our failure to obtain necessary debt and equity financing, and our dependence on external sources of capital; financial market fluctuations and changes in foreign currency exchange rates; adverse economic or real estate developments in our industry or the industry sectors that we sell to, including risks relating to decreasing real estate valuations and impairment charges and goodwill and other intangible asset impairment charges; our inability to manage our growth effectively; losses in excess of our insurance coverage; environmental liabilities and risks related to natural disasters; our inability to comply with rules and regulations applicable to our company; our failure to maintain our status as a REIT for federal income tax purposes; our operating partnership’s failure to qualify as a partnership for federal income tax purposes; restrictions on our ability to engage in certain business activities; and changes in local, state, federal and international laws and regulations, including related to taxation, real estate and zoning laws, and increases in real property tax rates.

The risks included here are not exhaustive, and additional factors could adversely affect our business and financial performance. We discussed a number of additional material risks in our annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Those risks continue to be relevant to our performance and financial condition. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risk factors emerge from time to time and it is not possible for management to predict all such risk factors, nor can it assess the

impact of all such risk factors on the business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. We expressly disclaim any responsibility to update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrants have duly caused this report to be signed on their behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

	Digital Realty Trust, Inc.
By:	/s/    JOSHUA A. MILLS
	Joshua A. Mills Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary
	Digital Realty Trust, L.P.
By:	/s/    JOSHUA A. MILLS
	Joshua A. Mills Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary

Date: September 17, 2019

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Cover Page	Sep. 17, 2019
Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Address, Address Line One	Four Embarcadero Center, Suite 3200
Entity Address, City or Town	San Francisco
Entity Address, State or Province	CA
Entity Central Index Key	0001297996
Document Period End Date	Sep. 17, 2019
Entity Emerging Growth Company	false
Entity Registrant Name	DIGITAL REALTY TRUST, INC.
City Area Code	415
Local Phone Number	738-6500
Amendment Flag	false
Pre-commencement Issuer Tender Offer	false
Pre-commencement Tender Offer	false
Soliciting Material	false
Written Communications	false
Entity Address, Postal Zip Code	94111
Entity Incorporation, State or Country Code	MD
Document Type	8-K
Entity File Number	001-32336
Entity Tax Identification Number	26-0081711
Series K Preferred Stock
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	Series K Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock
Trading Symbol	DLR Pr K
Security Exchange Name	NYSE
Series J Preferred Stock
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	Series J Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock
Trading Symbol	DLR Pr J
Security Exchange Name	NYSE
Series I Preferred Stock
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	Series I Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock
Trading Symbol	DLR Pr I
Security Exchange Name	NYSE
Series G Preferred Stock
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	Series G Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock
Trading Symbol	DLR Pr G
Security Exchange Name	NYSE
Series C Preferred Stock
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	Series C Cumulative Redeemable Perpetual Preferred Stock
Trading Symbol	DLR Pr C
Security Exchange Name	NYSE
Common Stock
Entity Information [Line Items]
Title of 12(b) Security	Common Stock
Trading Symbol	DLR
Security Exchange Name	NYSE
Digital Realty Trust L.P.
Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Emerging Growth Company	false
Entity Registrant Name	DIGITAL REALTY TRUST, L.P.
Entity Incorporation, State or Country Code	MD
Entity File Number	000-54023
Entity Tax Identification Number	20-2402955