Data Center Investment News — 31/03/2023
Damac plans to build data center in Jordan
Dubai property firm Damac is planning a new data center in Amman, Jordan. Damac Data Centers this week announced it has signed a long-term agreement with the King Hussein Business Park in the capital city.
Details of facility specifications weren’t shared, with Damac saying investment details would be shared shortly.
“Jordan holds a unique position with accessibility spreading across the Middle East and Africa, with clear aspirations for foreign investment and digital growth. The country also has a young population and a lot to offer in terms of technological innovation. We are excited to be investing in Jordan, and we look forward to supporting the growth of its digital economy,” said Hussain Sajwani, founder and chairman of Damac Group.
Previously known as Edgnex, Damac Data Centers is currently developing data centers in Riyadh and Dammam in Saudi Arabia.
Actis acquires 11 data centers from Nabiax
Investment firm Actis has acquired 11 data centers from Nabiax.
The company this week announced it has agreed to acquire 11 facilities across six countries in Latin America and the US from Nabiax. Terms of the deal were not shared, but Reuters said the transaction was valued at around $500 million.
The 11 facilities are spread across Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, and the US in Florida totaling 23MW. Originally built by Telefonica, the company will remain an anchor tenant under a long-term contract.
Mauricio Giusti, partner in Actis’ Sao Paulo office, said: “We are delighted to deepen our footprint in the digital infrastructure sector with the acquisition of these anchor assets for our pan-LATAM data center platform. We are also excited to partner with Telefonica in the region as a key customer of the platform, while also positioning the data centers as carrier-neutral facilities.”
Kio acquires data center in Colombia
Latin American data center firm Kio has acquired a data center in Colombia.
The I Squared Capital-owned company this week announced it has bought a site in the capital city, Bogota. The terms of the deal and which company it was purchased from weren’t shared.
The 5,000 sqm (53,820 sq ft) facility, known as BOG1, has two 2,000 sqm (21,525 sq ft) data halls and 6MW of capacity. The company said the site has additional land to build a second data center that would take the campus to 12MW.
“For Kio, it is highly strategic to continue expanding in LATAM and we have chosen Colombia because we are convinced of the economic potential and the growing demand for our services in this great country. We are working very well with our investment partners, I Squared Capital, in the execution of our expansion plans,” said Santiago Suinaga, Kio Data Centers CEO.
SUNeVision opens new data center in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong
SUNeVision has launched its seventh data center, the Mega Gateway, in Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong.
The hyperscale data center is carrier and cloud-neutral and is a part of SUNeVision’s Mega Campus.
The latest addition to the campus, housed at 1 Ma Kok Street, Tsuen Wan, Hong Kong, covers 200,000 sq ft of floor space (~18,600 sqm) and has a capacity of 20MW.
Raymond Tong, CEO and executive director of SUNeVision, said: ‘We are happy to announce the birth of our hyperscale data center Mega Gateway. We are witnessing strong momentum and are proud to expand our data center footprints in Hong Kong.
EdgeCore to co-develop 7.6 acres in Northern Virginia into hyperscale data centre
Partner Group’s portfolio company EdgeCore Digital Infrastructure said it will invest in expanding in Northern Virginia through the establishment of a partnership with Penzance, a Washington, D.C. based real estate developer, to co-develop 7.6 acres into a hyperscale data centre campus.
The acquired parcel is planned to accommodate a 285,000 square foot, three-story data centre, capable of supporting 36 MW of critical load.
The site plan approval process is expected to be completed by the end of 2023, the group said. A dozen local and national long-haul fibre providers are already located adjacent to the site.
EdgeCore’s existing site in Northern Virginia, comprised of 348,000 square feet and capable of supporting 54 MW of critical load, is located two miles from this newly acquired land.
Microsoft plans $1 billion data center campus in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin
Microsoft plans to build a $1 billion data center campus in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin.
The company will develop on a 315-acre parcel of mostly vacant land owned by the Village of Mount Pleasant, which is part of the wider 2,500-acre plot that was set aside for a Foxconn manufacturing hub.
The new project was announced by the Village of Mount Pleasant, Racine County, Racine County Economic Development Corporation, and Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation following a closed session meeting.
“Our first commitment is always to local taxpayers,” Claude Lois, Foxconn’s project manager hired by Mount Pleasant, said. “That will be the case as we move forward with Microsoft.”
maincubes to build BER01 data centre in Germany
maincubes has received its building permit to build its BER01 data centre on the Berlin GoWest campus in Germany, by 2025.
The Informationstechnikzentrum Bund (ITZBund), the central IT service provider for the German Federal Administration, selected maincubes as its build-to-suit data centre provider and operator and will be the primary tenant.
“The location at the environmentally focused GoWest quarter fits perfectly with the sustainability principles of maincubes, according to which we have aligned our data centres from the very beginning,” said Albrecht Kraas, CTO at maincubes.
“With its state-of-the-art architecture and cutting-edge technology, we want to support our customers by minimising the environmental footprint of their IT hardware, while maximising their energy savings and costs.”
Brookfield in ‘advanced talks’ to buy French data centre operator Data4 for $3.8bn
Global alternative asset manager Brookfield Asset Management is reportedly in “advanced talks” to acquire a majority stake in Data4, a Paris-based data centre operator.
According to sources familiar with the matter, the deal could be worth up to €3.5 billion (US$3.77 billion), Reuters reported. The talks between Brookfield and Data4 are said to be exclusive, and a deal could be finalised in the coming weeks.
If completed, the acquisition would mark the latest move by Brookfield to expand its presence in the data centre market, which has been growing rapidly in recent years as businesses increasingly rely on digital infrastructure.
Data4’s former CFO was in June 2022 named head of data centre development for Europe at Brookfield.
KKR, GIP-owned data centre developer CyrusOne appoints new CSO
Global data centre developer and operator CyrusOne has appointed Brent Behrman to the role of Chief Sales Officer.
In this position, Behrman will lead CyrusOne’s global sales and marketing teams.
The executive joined CyrusOne, which is owned by funds managed by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), in 2016 and has served in a variety of key leadership roles including Executive Vice President of Sales, Executive Vice President of Engineering, and Executive Vice President of Strategy during which time the organization has evolved and grown to an international infrastructure solutions company.
Prior to joining CyrusOne, Behrman spent over 20 years in various leadership roles within the data centre, software, and telecom industries
Green Mountain to build sustainable data centre site in Germany
Green Mountain will establish a new 54MW data centre site in Mainz, 30km outside of Frankfurt.
The construction of the data centre site is part of an agreement with energy company KMW, and both will have a 50% stake in the joint venture.
Three data centres are being planned at the 25,000 square-metre site, which is situated in an existing industrial area adjacent to KMW’s power plants.
The Mainz authorities have approved the building application and construction will commence in the third quarter of the year. The site can support both multi-tenant contracts as well as dedicated buildings for larger client installations.