Data Center Investment News — 11/10/2024
Soluna secures Power and Land for Project Rosa in Texas
Green data center developer Soluna has signed term sheets for power and land with an unnamed renewable energy developer for its Project Rosa development.
Project Rosa is a 187MW data center currently in development, colocated next to a planned 240MW wind farm in Texas, which will provide most of its operational power.
Soluna has secured 60 acres of land for this project’s development, which will occur over two phases.When completed, Project Rosa will provide capacity for AI, machine learning, Bitcoin hosting, and other computing-intensive applications, as well as joint venture potential.
As Soluna progresses with Project Rosa, it will focus on completing definitive power purchase agreements, land agreements, and the ERCOT planning phase.
Uk MSP launches data center expansion in Peterborough
UK managed services provider DSM Group has launched an expansion of its data center in Peterborough.The company this week announced the launch of its Eco Data Centre in the Cambridgeshire city. Specifications weren’t shared.
The launch event at the Old Hangar on Elton Road, Wansford, was attended by the Mayor of Peterborough, Councillor Marco Cereste; the Mayoress of Peterborough, Maddalena Cereste; and the North West Cambridgeshire MP, Sam Carling.
DSM said the data center incorporates U-Systems water-cooled racks into the facility’s design – a nearby lake filled via collected rooftop rainwater provides water for the cooling. According to a DSM brochure, the new racks offer densities of up to 90kW through rear door cooling.The site also includes a 200kW solar system, and features a 500-person office space for workplace recovery.
The company has reportedly invested £1 million ($1.3m) in this expansion. A second phase of expansion is planned – set to be completed by 2027, it will take the total number of racks to more than 200.
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DC Blox breaks ground on 216MW data center campus outside Atlanta, Georgia
US data center operator DC Blox has broken ground on a new data center campus outside Atlanta, Georgia.
“Construction has begun on our Atlanta East Hyperscale Data Center Campus. The facility is designed to accommodate hundreds of thousands of square feet with 216MW of total power committed by Georgia Power,” the company said on LinkedIn this week, “With a hyperscale client anchoring the first phase of the project, additional space will open up for tenants with expected delivery in Q4 2025.”
DC Blox already operates one facility in Atlanta in the Brookhaven area. The facility, at 6 West Druid Hills Drive, spans 3,350 sq ft (311 sqm) and has two 1MW generators. It has 6,470 sq ft (600 sqm) expansion potential.
The company announced plans for another campus – known as Atlanta West – in November 2023. The site was originally set to host two buildings on the ATL1 West campus; the 80MW Building A and the 40MW Building B, along with a substation; DC Blox filed to add a third, 80MW, building earlier this year.
DC Blox operates facilities across Atlanta, Georgia; Birmingham and Huntsville, Alabama; and Chattanooga, Tennessee, as well as a cable landing station in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. More are in development, including around Richmond, Virginia.
Asset manager Blue Owl to buy IPI Partners for $1Bn
Blue Owl is set to acquire IPI Partners for approximately $1 billion.
As reported by Reuters, the asset manager will be purchasing IPI from its owners and funding the deal with 80 percent of equity and 20 percent in cash.Reports that Blue Owl was looking to acquire IPI emerged earlier this month.
PI is a joint venture between investment manager Iconiq Capital and private equity firm Iron Point Partners.The deal is Blue Owl’s foray into digital infrastructure, and is set to bring $10.5 billion to its assets under management.
“There is a massive market opportunity to finance data centers, matched by an increasing investor appetite for additional strategies investing behind cloud and AI-driven secular tailwinds,” said Blue Owl’s co-CEOs Doug Ostrover and Marc Lipschultz.
Blue Owl has approximately $192 billion in assets under management. The company recently formed a $5 billion joint venture with Chirisa and PowerHouse to develop data centers across the US – mostly for AI cloud firm CoreWeave.
The IPI acquisition is Blue Owl’s fourth this year, having previously acquired Kuvare Asset Management, Prima Capital Advisors, and Atalaya Capital Management.
NV5 bolsters data center operations with two acquisitions
Engineering and consulting firm NV5 has acquired two data center commissioning and energy management companies, Kisebach Consulting and Senergy BCS.The acquisition will support NV5’s growth within the data center market, whichhas been expanding following a spate of agreements over the last two years.
Ben Heraud, chief executive officer of NV5 said: “Senergy BCS and Kisebach Consulting provide decades of data center-specific experience and relationships with some of the nation’s leading data center owners and operators, and we look forward to the contributions they will make to our data center business.”
Senergy BCS, based in Utah, delivers data center HVAC and controls commissioning for state, federal, and private sector data center facilities in the United States and Canada.
Kisebach Consulting, based in Washington, provides energy engineering and mission-critical building systems commissioning for data center facilities to optimize data center environments for traditional and AI data center applications.
The company has signed several agreements over the past 12 months, including for the acquisition of Red Technologies, a provider of information technology and utility infrastructure services for mission-critical data centers, and a strategic agreement with Cadence Design Systems to qualify, design, and demonstrate ideal data center design conditions for AI data center platforms.
In addition, it secured $13 million in contracts to facilitate the expansion of data center assets for technology and financial companies in Asia and the United States.
Ares acquires GLP’s international business in multi billion dollar deal
Ares Management Corporation has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire GLP Capital Partners’ (GCP) international business, excluding its operations in Greater China.
The deal was completed for an estimated $3.7 billion, with $1.8bn in cash and $1.9bn in Ares Class A Common Shares, subject to customary adjustments.The acquisition nearly doubles Ares assets under management to $96bn across North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America.
GLP Capital Partners is a global alternative asset management firm with $44bn of AUM. It has built scaled investment platforms across industrial, digital infrastructure, and self-storage in regions such as Japan, Europe, and the US.
The acquisition was driven significantly by data center demand from both hyperscale and enterprise customers.
“We have long admired GCP’s global real estate experience and capabilities in facilitating the economy of the future, which includes investing in and managing industrial, data center, and self-storage assets,” said Michael Arougheti, CEO and president of Ares.
GTD launches 20MW Peruvian data center
Chilean telco GTD has opened its 20MW Peruvian data center in the Lurín area outside Lima.The $50 million data center project is expected to have 960 cabinets across 2,100 sqm (22605 sq ft) of white space on a 10,000 sqm (107,650 sq ft) plot, as reported by BNAmericas.
In a LinkedIn post, the company announced: “With advanced technology and Tier III certification, we are ready to offer secure and efficient technology solutions, from hosting to cloud services. In addition, our infrastructure is committed to sustainability with renewable energy. Lurín is now the key technological hub in Peru!”
Founded in 1980, GTD has eleven data centers across Chile, Colombia, and Peru, totaling a capacity of 17MW. The telco also operates an 82,000km fiber network.
Earlier this year, GTD ended discussions with Macquarie to sell its data center division. The deal would have seen the acquisition of 49 percent of a new subsidiary covering the telco’s data centers in Chile, Peru, and Colombia.
Lurín is currently a landing point for four subsea cables; Fibra Optica al Pacifico, SAm-1, SAC, and SPCS/Mistral. It is closely located to the capital city Lima, which is home to operators such as Cirion, Claro, Equinix, and Win Empresa.
Vantage Data Centers poaches Equinix top executive to lead APAC expansion
DigitalBridge-backed (NYSE: DBRG) Vantage Data Centers has appointed Jeremy Deutsch as president of its Asia-Pacific (APAC) operations.
Deutsch, who will report to Jeff Tench, executive vice president for North America and APAC, is set to spearhead the company’s regional growth strategy.
With over two decades of experience in the information and communication technology (ICT) sector, Deutsch joins Vantage from Equinix (NASDAQ: EQIX), where he most recently served as president of APAC since 2019.
During his tenure at Equinix, Deutsch led the company’s expansion into five new countries over a five-year period.
Jeff Tench, executive vice president, of North America and APAC, Vantage Data Centers, said: “Jeremy is an industry veteran who brings a breadth of knowledge and expertise that will be critical as we rapidly scale our APAC platform.”
Deutsch added: “The Vantage APAC platform is poised for explosive growth, and I am excited to have the opportunity to help the team further scale and support customers who need best-in-class sustainable digital infrastructure.”
Microsoft announces $3bn investment in Brazil’s AI infrastructure
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) has unveiled plans for an investment of 14.7 billion Reais (approximately US$3 billion) in Brazil’s cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure over the next three years.This marks the company’s largest single investment in the country to date.
The investment will primarily focus on expanding cloud and AI infrastructure across several campuses in São Paulo state.The expansion complements Microsoft’s existing Azure regions in Brazil: Brazil South in São Paulo state, launched in 2014, and Brazil Southeast in Rio de Janeiro, launched in 2020.
Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft, said: “We are committed to supporting Brazil’s AI transformation and ensuring it benefits everyone. Our new investments in cloud and AI infrastructure and training in Brazil will help ensure broad access to both the technology and skills needed for Brazil’s people and economy to thrive in this AI era.”
Alongside the infrastructure investment, Microsoft is launching ConectAI, a programme aimed at equipping five million Brazilians with essential AI skills over the next three years.
A study commissioned by Microsoft and conducted by FrontierView in 2020 suggests that strong AI adoption in Brazil could potentially add 4.2 percentage points to the country’s GDP growth through 2030.
Kyriba to strengthen Saudi Arabia’s digital space with new data center, aligning with Vision 2030
Kyriba, a financial technology firm specializing in liquidity management, will be establishing a new data centre in Saudi Arabia by the first quarter of 2025.The upcoming data centre is expected to meet local requirements for domestic data storage, a priority under Saudi regulatory mandates.
“Saudi Arabia’s compliance regulations require that data be stored domestically and our new data centre will help our customers meet these requirements,” said Amer Chebaro, sales leader, CEMEA, Kyriba.
“This investment also underscores our commitment to supporting our clients’ digital transformation while helping them improve their overall liquidity performance.”
The data centre is expected to bolster the efficiency of Kyriba’s services in the region by minimizing latency within the locally stored data.The new facility is expected to further improve operational efficiency and data security for businesses in Saudi Arabia.
AustralianSuper expands $68bn US operations with senior appointments
Australia’s largest superannuation fund AustralianSuper has announced a significant expansion of its operations and investment capabilities in the Americas.
The move includes five senior US appointments and the relocation of its Head of Private Credit to New York.
The fund, which currently manages approximately US$228 billion in total member assets, has invested nearly half of its portfolio outside Australia. North America accounts for more than US$68 billion of these investments, underscoring the region’s strategic importance to AustralianSuper’s international investment model.
Damian Moloney, Deputy Chief Investment Officer of AustralianSuper, said: “With 30% of member assets currently invested in North America, the region is of great strategic importance to the Fund and a hub for our private markets investment activity.”
Key appointments include Mikaël Limpalaër as Head of Americas, Maria Reed as Head of Fund Services for the Americas, and Nick Ward as Head of Private Credit, who will relocate to New York.
Additionally, Damien Mitchell and Andrew Osborne join as Senior Investment Directors in Real Assets, while Matthew Choi takes on the role of Senior Investment Director in Private Credit.
The expansion will see the US team grow from its current 60 professionals to over 120 by 2026. This enhanced capability is expected to generate further opportunities for excellent returns in the region.