Investment firm Blackstone Group Inc (BX.N) will buy data center operator QTS Realty Trust Inc (QTS.N) for about $6.7 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday. The buyout firm"s infrastructure unit along with its non-traded real-estate investment trust will pay $78 per share for QTS, according to the report.(https://bit.ly/3ioXRxx) The price represents a premium of about 21% to QTS" closing price on Friday. A COVID-19 pandemic-led remote working environment boosted demand for cloud services, which are reliant on data centers. QTS has more than 7 million square feet of data center space throughout North America and Europe. The transaction is valued at about $10 billion, including the assumption of the data center operator"s existing debt, the report said. Blackstone and QTS did not immediately respond to Reuters" request for comment.