Data Center Investment News — 28/10/2022
Nordic Capital closes $9bn fund with eyes set on digital infrastructure investments
Nordic Capital has completed its largest ever fund raise with the closing of Nordic Capital Fund XI (the Fund) at its hard cap of €9 billion (US$9.07 billion), exceeding its €8 billion (US$8.06 billion) target.
The private equity Fund, one of the largest to be raised in Europe this year, closed in nine months. With a c.100% re-up rate and increased GP commitment, Nordic Capital Fund XI is over 45% bigger than its predecessor large-cap fund (Nordic Capital Fund X), which raised €6.1 billion in October 2020.
Nordic Capital Fund XI will focus on sectors including Healthcare, Technology & Payments and Financial Services, and selectively, in Industrial & Business Services, where Nordic Capital has realised digital infrastructure investments, including in Munters, a data centre hardware manufacturer.
The Fund’s mandate includes investment in mid to large companies within these sectors in Europe; and within Healthcare and Technology & Payments globally.
Microsoft files for another Virginia campus in Mecklenburg County
Microsoft has filed to build another data center campus in Clarksville, Virginia. The US Army Corps Of Engineers’ Norfolk District this week received a joint permit application for Federal and State permits from the company.
“Microsoft proposes to construct a new data center facility to house servers used in cloud-based computing. This facility will be constructed as an addition to Microsoft’s established southern Virginia Regional Network Group, which has outgrown current capacity faster than anticipated,” the application states.
The company is looking to develop on a 259.1-acre parcel located at the Lakeside Commerce Park, at Commerce Drive in Southern Virginia’s Mecklenburg County.
In documents, the project, listed in the filings as ‘AVC17 Lakeside’, shows three data center buildings on the site. Project timelines or facility specifications, including square footage or capacity, were not included.
Google’s data centre investments in Belgium hit $3bn
US public cloud giant Google has acquired a new piece of land in Belgium, taking capital expenditure (CAPEX) in data centres in the country to close to €3 billion (US$2.95 billion).
The Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL) company, which first invested €250 million in the country in 2007, has purchased a 36-hectare plot at Ecaussinnes, Hainaut Province, on the Feluy Industrial Estate, around 40 kilometres south of Brussels.
A Google spokesperson has, however, said that no decision had been made on the final use of the land in relation to data centre construction purposes.
Federal Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said: “For many years now, Belgium has played a prominent role in Europe when it comes to the development of the digital economy. Our central location, know-how and talent are trump cards for companies such as Google, but also for all the innovative companies that start up every day here”. Google’s first European data centre opened in 2010 at Saint-Ghislain, near Mons, also in the Hainaut Province.
Telehouse bulks up European leadership team with new MD
Colocation provider Telehouse International Corporation of Europe has grown its executive leadership team further by appointing a new Managing Director.
Previously holding the role of Deputy Managing Director for Telehouse Europe, Takayo Takamuro has been promoted to the role of Managing Director with full responsibility for the leadership and development of Telehouse Europe.
The company said Takamuro will play a key role in driving innovation and improving customer experience across the business. She will continue to be based in London, the European headquarters for Telehouse.
Takamuro has over 25 years’ experience in the data centre industry, joining Telehouse in 2021 from parent company KDDI, a Japanese telecommunications provider.
Mining infrastructure investor breaks ground in Paraguay
Mining infrastructure investor Pow.re Holdings Limited has begun construction of two data centres in the capital region of Asunción, Paraguay.
The facilities will provide 12 megawatts of hydroelectric power for the company’s operations. The first site is expected to be operational in Q4 2022 and the second is forecasted to be completed by Q1 2023.
The Paraguay expansion will make “significant contributions” towards the company’s goal of achieving hashing power of 0.5 exahash per second (0.5 EH/s) by Q2 2023.
Mike Blais-Cohen, Co-Founder and CEO of Pow.re, said: “We are very excited to have broken ground on our two first data centres in Paraguay and are on track to start our digital mining operations in the country later this quarter.
Piemonte’s Elea buys TIM data center in Porto Alegre, Brazil
Brazilian data center firm Elea Digital has acquired a data center in Porto Alegre from TIM Brasil.
The first phase of the newly-acquired POA2 has a capacity for 500 racks. The Piemonte Holding-owned company this month said it aims to expand the facility, located in the south of the country in Rio Grande do Sul, in the future. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“Today, the data center has a space of 4,000 sqm (43,000 sq ft), with 1.2 MW of installed power and 5MW of expansion potential, in addition to being a potential landing point for submarine cables, capable of connecting Brazil to the United States, Uruguay, and Argentina. We are working to expand and bring a quality digital infrastructure to connect companies in the South region” said Alessandro Lombardi , CEO of Piemonte and President of Elea.
The company already has a presence in Porto Alegre in a 2.5MW facility with capacity for 820 racks across 1993 sqm (21,450 sq ft), and now seven overall in the country.
Rostelecom looking to build data center in Armenia
Russia’s Rostelecom is reportedly considering the development of a new data center in Armenia.
Armenian Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan and his deputy Narek Teryan this week met with Rostelecom President Mikhail Oseevsky to discuss a number of potential projects in the country.
“During the meeting they discussed the company’s programs in Armenia, new strategic projects and investment initiatives related, in particular, to the construction of [a] data center, improvement of Internet services in Armenia,” said the Armenian Ministry of the Economy.
Further details about locations, specifications, or timelines were not shared. CJSC GNC-ALFA, a subsidiary company of Rostelecom in Armenia, provides Internet access, fixed telephony, IP TV, and other services in the country. Founded in 2007, Rostelecom acquired a majority stake in the company in 2012.
NTT opens data center in Johannesburg, South Africa
NTT has launched a new data center in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Located at 21 Sterling Road in the Samrand area of the city, the Johannesburg 1 Data Center will provide 12MW of capacity across 6,000 sqm (64,600 sq ft) once fully built out. Phase one offers 3,000 sqm (32,300 sq ft) and 6MW.
The new facility uses a closed-loop chilled water system with air-cooled chillers, meaning that the water running through the cooling systems isn’t evaporated.
“We’re incredibly proud to be investing in Johannesburg and extending our global data center footprint to South Africa. The country forms a significant part of NTT’s growth strategy as we continue to support Africa’s digital transformation. The opening of Johannesburg 1 will contribute towards the economic growth and social development of the region, as our clients shape the country of tomorrow,” said Florian Winkler, CEO of Global Data Centers EMEA, NTT Ltd.
Stonepeak’s Cologix reshuffles boardroom as part of succession masterplan
Stonepeak-backed Edge data centre operator Cologix has made senior executive leadership changes as part of its succession planning process. Effective immediately, Dawn Smith, the company’s previous President and Chief Operations Officer, is now the President of Cologix.
As President of Cologix, Smith adds leadership for the information technology and security functions as well as Cologix’s subsidiary fibre solutions company, Metro Optic, to her existing role leading the company’s data centre design, engineering, construction, operations, compliance, supply chain/vendor management, sales engineering, real estate development, talent engagement, human resources and legal functions.
Smith joined Cologix in 2018 as President and Chief Operations Officer. Prior to Cologix, Smith held executive leadership roles with McAfee and VMware.
She holds a BS from the U. S Naval Academy and served in the U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program. Additionally, Smith holds an MBA from Providence College and a JD from Stanford Law School. She also had legal practice in the technology industry at both Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati and as a partner at Morrison & Foerster.
BlackRock’s latest infra fund raises $4.5bn at first close
BlackRock Alternatives (BlackRock), through its Infrastructure business, has raised US$4.5 billion in initial investor commitments for BlackRock Global Infrastructure Fund IV (Infra IV or the Fund), achieving over half of its targeted size at first closing.
The climate-focused Fund, which is targeting US$7.5 billion and invests in “essential infrastructure assets globally”, including digital infrastructure real estate, secured initial commitments from a group of institutional investors, including public and private pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies and family offices.
These clients are based around the world, including from the United States, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. Over 75 percent of the commitments in the Fund are from investors who have invested in prior vintages of the strategy.
The Fund is the fourth vintage of BlackRock’s flagship global infrastructure equity fund series and builds on the strategy of the Global Energy & Power Infrastructure Funds.
Microsoft acquires 25 acres in Pune, India
Microsoft has acquired a plot of land in Pune, India, and plans to develop a data center there.
The Economic Times reports the company has acquired a 25-acre land parcel in the Pimpri-Waghere locality in the northwest of the Maharashtra city, where it plans to develop a data center.
The deal is reportedly through an agreement with Finolex Industries to transfer the long-term lease for nearly Rs 329 crore ($39.7m). The companies declined to comment to the publication.
Microsoft opened three Indian cloud regions in Pune (Central India), Chennai (South India), and Mumbai (West India) in 2015. In December 2021 it added three availability zones in the India Central region in Pune; it is the only Indian Azure region with availability zones.
NextDC opens third Melbourne data center
NextDC has launched a new data center in Melbourne, Australia, more than doubling its capacity in the city. The company this week officially launched M3, the company’s third in the Victoria capital city.
Located in West Footscray, the 100,000 sqm (1 million sq ft) facility offers 150MW of capacity. The site will offer 41,000 sqm (441,300 sq ft) of technical space across 41 data halls – a space capable of holding up to 23,000 racks.
The company said it expects to invest AU$1.5 billion into the project. Previous reports suggested the first 13.5MW phase had a planned completion date for the first half of 2023.
“The Australian digital economy is growing rapidly, accelerating the need for interconnected cloud services, sovereign secured, and sustainable solutions enabled by Tier IV certified facilities to assure business resilience,” NextDC CEO and managing director Craig Scroggie said. “The size and capability of M3 provides a gateway for enterprise and government organizations to directly connect and integrate their IT infrastructure with public and private cloud providers.”
Bridge Data Centres launches new facility in Johor, Malaysia
Bridge Data Centres (BDC) has launched a new data center in Johor, Malaysia.
The ChinData-owned company, together with ByteDance, this week announced the opening of the first phase of the MY06 data center in Sedenak.
First announced in late 2021, phase 1 of the 110MW project covers the first of three buildings across the 38-acre site, located within the Sedenak Tech Park (STeP).
“I would like to express my gratitude to the Digital Investment Office (DIO), Invest Johor, and Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) for their tremendous assistance and support for this project. We look forward to a long-term partnership with the Malaysian government as we expand our business in Malaysia to support our clients.,” said Lim DZ Shing, President of Bridge Data Centres.