Data Center Investment News — 21/10/2022
Cube IM acquires Germany’s Firstcolo
Investment firm Cube Infrastructure Managers has acquired German data center company Firstcolo. The mid-market infrastructure investor announced this week that it has agreed to acquire Firstcolo datacenters GmbH, a Frankfurt-based data center business.
The acquisition is being made by Cube Infrastructure Fund III from funds advised by EMERAM Capital Partners and its portfolio company diva-e Excellence GmbH; terms weren’t disclosed.
The two founders of firstcolo – Jerome Evans and Nicolaj Kamensek – will remain shareholders of firstcolo and will continue to lead the company
“We believe Firstcolo to be very well positioned to address the increasing needs of German SMEs in terms of colocation and cloud services, with the ability to anticipate the future needs of customers,” said Stéphane Calas, Partner at Cube Infrastructure Manager. “Our team is very excited to join forces with Jerome and Nicolaj, firstcolo’s management team and founders to write the next growth chapter of the company.”
Mainova breaks ground on 30MW data center in Frankfurt
German energy firm Mainova has broken ground on a new colocation data center in Frankfurt. Mainova subsidiary Mainova WebHouse this week announced a groundbreaking ceremony took place on the site between Gwinnerstrasse and Mergenthaler Strasse on October 14.
The new facility will offer 10,500 square meters (113,000 sq ft) of space across two buildings and a total IT load of around 30MW. The campus is due to launch in January 2024.
Mainova CEO Dr. Constantine H. Alsheimer said: “Mainova is intensively driving the energy transition and decarbonization. In accordance with our sustainability strategy, we are developing one of the most efficient and sustainable data centers in Frankfurt. We are opening up a new business model in a dynamic growth market and support the city of Frankfurt and our customers in implementing their climate protection goals.”
Oliver Schiebel, Managing Director of Mainova Webhouse, added: “The Mainova WebHouse data center campus is supplied with 100 percent green electricity. Our own photovoltaic systems for generating solar energy on site also contribute to this. The greening of the facade and outdoor area contributes to insulation and cooling in addition to a sophisticated look.”
New 30MW data center proposed in east London’s docklands
A new data center is being proposed in east London, UK. The 1.39 hectare-site, at the western edge of the former East India Import Dock, is currently occupied by Mulberry Place and Lighterman House; two post-modern office blocks built in the 1990s.
The planning application proposes to demolish the existing office buildings and to construct a 30-story residential building, a 36-story student residential building, a data center, and a building to provide flexible workspace, community use space, and/or a Swimming Pool.
EID (General Partner) LLP is the applicant for the project, with Simpson Haugh/Nicholas Webb/Savills acting as architects and agents.
The application at this stage is only seeking outline planning permission for the data center, but hopes to deliver a maximum of 35,000 sqm (376,700 sq ft) Gross Internal Area of Class B8 (data center) floorspace.
D9 turns Verne Global into $600m business with new platform merger
Investment house TriplePoint, through its digital infrastructure arm Digital 9 Infrastructure (D9) (LSE: DGI9), has merged data centre operators Verne Global and Ficolo Oy.
The business combination follows on from the recently announced placement of Volta Data Centres also in the Verne Global portfolio last September.
With the Ficolo addition, Verne Global now has a presence across three European countries in Iceland (Verne), Finland (Ficolo) and the UK (Volta).
Specifically, on Ficolo’s real estate which D9 acquired last September for a total consideration of €135 million (US$145 million), the brand will add 23 MW of available data centre capacity to the Verne Global platform, with the potential to expand to 90 MW across its three sites in Helsinki (‘the Air’), Pori (‘the Rock’) and Tampere (‘the Deck’).
EdgeConneX secures $150m for LATAM expansion
EQT-backed EdgeConneX has secured US$150 million in sustainability-linked financing for Latin America.
The loan refinances outstanding indebtedness and is designed to be used as a financing platform for the company’s future activity in Latin America, including Chile and Colombia where the company is yet to establish a presence.
Joe Harar, CFO at EdgeConneX and who was recently featured in The Tech Capital‘s 50 most influential digital infrastructure CFOs in business today, said: “This is a landmark transaction in the digital infrastructure space in Latin America, as combined green loan principles and sustainability-linked loan principles are considered to be the first combination sustainability data centre financing in the Latin American market.
“This latest funding provides EdgeConneX with the backing necessary to continue its regional expansion in Latin America and to do so in a sustainability-minded way.”
Yondr, JK Land Holdings break ground on first North American hyperscale campus
Data centre developer Yondr Group in partnership with JK Land Holdings, LLC (JKLH) has broken ground on the first phase of its hosting project in Loudoun, Northern Virginia.
The campus is Yondr’s first data centre in the Americas and will deliver 96MW of capacity, with room for future expansion.
Eanna Murphy, COO, Global Design and Construction at Yondr Group, said: “Northern Virginia is the nation’s data centre corridor and a strategic metro where we see some of the largest cloud capacity demands.
“This ground-breaking marks our first facility in the Americas and we are looking forward to serving our clients’ capacity needs in this region.”
GreenSquareDC’s DA for AUD$1B Sustainable Data Center has been Approved
Members of the Metro Inner-South Joint Development Assessment panel today approved GreenSquareDC’s Development Application (DA) for a new $1.1 billion 96MW data center in Perth, Australia.
The project is planned on about 38,000 sq m of property in Belmont, which is conveniently located between the airport and the central business district. More than 68,000 sq m of gross floor area will be provided by the staged development across 4 levels. The first stage of construction is scheduled to start in 2023 and is expected to be finished by mid-2024.
The planned sustainable data center, is considered to be the largest in Western Australia and is intended to address the rising need for digital infrastructure that may assist users in meeting their carbon reduction goals.
The project’s total development costs, including the goods and services tax, are $968.4 million for local components and $1.1 billion for all components. It also brings 2,932 total full time equivalent construction job years supported both directly and indirectly, and adds $635.5 million in value to the Western Australian economy over the course of construction.
AWS to Invest $5B in Thailand’s Cloud Infrastructure
Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud computing subsidiary of Amazon.com Inc, plans to invest $5 billion in Thailand over the next 15 years to strengthen its infrastructure in the country.
More than 200 services, including storage, robotics, and artificial intelligence, are offered on the AWS cloud platform. And last month, it announced plans to set up a local hub in Mexico to increase bandwidth for clients while also opening its first cloud data center in the United Arab Emirates (UAE.)
Currently, the investment plans in Thailand, according AWS statement, include establishing data centers and acquiring goods and services from local companies. And in order to better serve end users and assist clients in the region, it also intends to establish an infrastructure hub in Bangkok.
According to Supattanapong Punmeechaow, Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister, the plan of AWS to establish data centers in Thailand is a significant development that will open up advanced cloud computing services to more businesses and support Thailand’s Thailand 4.0 initiative to develop a value-based, digital economy.
NTT & Digital Realty both planning data centers in Garland, Texas
Both NTT and Digital Realty are planning new data centers in the Garland area of Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas.
The two companies this month have filed applications for new facilities with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation in the city, on two plots within a mile of one another.
Digital Realty is planning a ‘one-story, 181,200 square feet (16,800 sqm) core and shell data center’ at 1505 Ferris Road. The development is known as ‘Project Gold Garland.’ The company aims to invest $59.4 million on the project, which is due to run from February 2023 to August 2024.
Digital Realty currently has 13 data centers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area around Carrollton, Garland, Richardson, and Dallas. It also owns one each in Houston and Austin. It also operates a campus in Lewisville, where it recently filed to build another facility.
Vantage Data Centers buys 10 acres in Sterling for $27 million
Vantage has acquired a plot of land in Sterling, Virginia. BizJournal reports that the company has acquired nearly 10 acres in Loudoun County from Boston Properties Inc. for $27 million.
Local county property records show that the Boston-based real estate investment company last month sold the two adjacent undeveloped parcels located on the south side of Pacific Boulevard at Dresden Street to Vantage Data Centers.
Boston Properties had controlled the properties for 20-plus years. Boston Properties acquired one parcel, totaling 3.99 acres, for $5.4 million in 1998, according to public records. It bought the second, 5.8-acre piece in 2000 for an unknown price.
Spokespeople for Vantage and Boston Properties did not respond to BJ’s request for comment.