Data Center Investment News — 13/01/2023
China’s Alibaba to build $1bn logistics and data centre in Türkiye
Chinese e-commerce and public cloud market player Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NYSE: BABA) will deploy more than US$1 billion in the construction of a logistics unit and data centre in Türkiye.
The investment will erect the logistics hub at Istanbul’s airport whilst the cloud facility will be located near Ankara, in Temelli, a small town southwest of the Turkish capital, according to Alibaba’s president Michael Evans.
Details of the data centre at scarce at this stage, but it has been reported that Alibaba is billing the project as Türkiye’s biggest cloud facility.
Speaking to local newspaper Sabah, the former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. executive added that the investment in Türkiye is part of a wider pipeline of capital deployment which will target Europe and the Middle East.
STACK Infrastructure under development projects top 800MW
Digital infrastructure player STACK Infrastructure has announced the purchase of 74 additional acres in Prince William County, Northern Virginia, home to the world’s largest data centre market.
The recently acquired land will add 100MW to the now 250MW campus, which sees STACK’s investment in the state to nearly 1GW and its global under-development pipeline top 800MW.
The 1.8 million square foot campus is currently master planned for seven data centres, including its two newest additions that each provide 48MW of capacity.
The site will also include a 300MW dedicated onsite substation, which will supply committed and scalable power from Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative (NOVEC).
Microsoft buys data centre startup Fungible
Russian data center firm Key Point has announced plans for a new facility in Yekaterinburg, with telco Beeline as the anchor tenant.
Key Point said the 3,200 sqm (34,450 sq ft) data center will be built inside an existing building and will be constructed with the aim of achieving Tier III certification. General contractor and designer Free Technologies Engineering have begun the design process; the 300-rack facility will offer up to 4MW and is scheduled to launch in December 2023.
A second release announced that the facility is to be developed in partnership with Russian telco PJSC VimpelCom (Beeline) that will see the company be the data center’s anchor tenant.
This will be the third such agreement between the two companies, following similar announcements in Vladivostok in Primorsky Krai and Novosibirsk.
DIF Capital Partners acquire US data centre operator
DIF Capital Partners has signed an agreement to acquire Tonaquint Data Centers, a data centre provider in the Mountain West region in the United States, headquartered in St. George, Utah.
The manager said Tonaquint’s management will continue to hold a minority stake in the business. The investment will be done through DIF’s core-plus CIF III fund.
Tonaquint is a colocation and cloud service provider with operations in St. George, Utah and Boise, Idaho.
The company offers a comprehensive set of critical infrastructure products and services, mainly focusing on high-growth smaller markets within the technology, healthcare, financial services, and industrial sectors.
Quinbrook expands data centre investment in Rowan Green Data platform
Investment manager Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners has expanded its Rowan Green Data platform by internalising the previously outsourced digital infrastructure management team and hiring senior data centre industry veterans Bobby Hollis and Dan McNary into senior leadership roles.
Rowan, now a wholly owned portfolio company of Quinbrook, began in 2020 as a joint venture between Quinbrook and Birch Infrastructure and has since grown to over 20 host sites across the US.
The brand’s inaugural 800 MW multi-tenant campus in Temple, Texas, is nearing construction completion of the 220 MW first stage.
David Scaysbrook, co-founder and managing partner of Quinbrook, said: “We originally established Rowan to address the new capacity demands from data centre operators for optimal host sites that could keep up with hyperbolic growth in data storage yet access low-cost renewable power as well as sustainable solutions in water use.
COPT launches data centre shell JVs with Blackstone Real Estate
Corporate Office Properties Trust (COPT) (NYSE: OFC) has announced the formation of two new joint ventures with entities affiliated with Blackstone Real Estate.
The Joint Ventures acquired a 90% interest in five single-tenant, data centre shell properties totalling approximately 1.1 million square feet and valued at US$278 million.
The acquisition was executed through two separate transactions occurring in mid-December and early January. COPT received approximately US$250 million of proceeds which it will deploy to fund the equity required for its development pipeline.
With these closings, the company said it does not anticipate the need to raise any additional equity capital in 2023.
EdgeConnex planning third data center in Miami, Florida
EdgeConnex is planning a third data center in Miami, Florida. BizJournal reports that EdgeConnex has acquired a 6.250-acre plot of land and is planning to build a two-story facility there.
PFR Investments LLC sold the 6.25-acre site near the southwest corner of Northwest 106th Street and Northwest 112th Avenue for $13.7 million to EdgeConneX Miami Holdings. The land was assembled for a combined $4.35 million in 2014 and 2015.
BJ reports, via a pre-application filing with Miami-Dade County officials, EdgeConneX’s two-story data center would total 145,700 square feet (13,550 sqm). Capacity or timelines of the development haven’t been shared.
EdgeConnex hasn’t commented on the development. DCD has reached out to the company for more information.
CKW launches new data center in Rotkreuz, Switzerland
CKW Fiber Services has opened a new data center in Rotkreuz, Switxerland.
First announced in October 2021,the CKW subsidiary built the new DC Zug data center next to the CKW Rotkreuz substation in Zug canton.
The new building offers 700 sqm (7,550 sq ft) of floorspace and is fully equipped with solar panels to help power the building’s operations. It will also utilize free-air cooling.
A total of 1,021 solar modules are installed on 1,165 sqm (12,550 sq ft) both on the roof and on the facades, which will produce around 135,000-kilowatt hours of electricity per year.
Arch Capital launches new firm Digital Halo, planning 70MW facility in Manila
APAC real estate investment firm Arch Capital is launching a new platform to invest in digital infrastructure in the region and is planning a data center in Manila, the Philippines.
The company this week announced the launch of Digital Halo (DH), co-founded by Arch president Charles Cosgrove and Keppel’s Kai Goh, which will invest in, develop, and operate digital infrastructure assets including data centers, fiber, and towers, as well as renewable power.
In the data center sector, DH will offer built-to-suit and colocation solutions to meet hyperscale and enterprise customer requirements in the target markets. The company’s first facility will be launched in Manila in the Philippines.
Digital Halo aims to manage and own a proposed 70MW data center campus on a 3.75-hectare freehold land parcel in Cainta. The proposed development involves a retrofit of an existing industrial facility with 6MW planned IT capacity in the first phase, commencing by the end of 2023.
Aligned planning 108MW campus in Hillsboro, Oregon
Aligned is expanding into Hillsboro, Oregon.
The company today announced its expansion into the Pacific Northwest with a 27-acre, 108 MW data center campus in Hillsboro, Oregon.
Located at NE 30th Ave. & NE Evergreen Rd and master-planned for two new buildings, the initial data center (known as PDX-01) at Aligned’s Hillsboro campus is expected to offer 72MW of critical capacity. The second building (PDX-02) is currently planned for 36MW. Timelines for development were not shared.
According to the company’s website, PDX-01 will feature 12 6MW data halls across 27 acres. The site will offer 100 percent renewable options via Portland General Electric, which owns seven hydroelectric plants, two wind farms, and seven thermal plants.
Vantage Data Centers to develop $600 million 48MW campus in London, UK
Vantage Data Centers is entering the London market with a 48MW, £500 million ($600 million) data center campus.
The company has also announced that it has opened a second 40MW data center at its existing Cardiff campus.
Vantage’s first London data center LHR1, and 11th EMEA campus, will be located in the five-acre PowerGate neighborhood of North Acton, an already-established data center community that is already home to data centers owned by Colt DCS and Equinix.
Vantage’s campus will total 430,000 sq ft (40,000 sqm) across two 24MW multi-story data centers, offer 300W-per-sq ft (3.23kW/sqm) average densities, and is expected to open its doors to hyperspace customers and cloud providers in late 2024. The facility will be powered by the National Grid and cooled by a closed-loop chilled water system.
547 Energy launches new firm, CleanArc Data Centers
Clean energy investment firm 547 Energy is launching a new data center platform.
The company this week announced the launch of CleanArc Data Centers. Led by Vantage Data Centers founder Jim Trout, the company offers data center turnkey program management, design and construction, and operational commissioning, bundled with power structuring.
Trout also founded data center consultants Proferian and previously held roles at Digital Reality and ProLogis. He was president of CoreSite when it was founded as CRG West. Trout left Vantage in 2013.
CleanArc’s site is light on details, but says it plans to offer hyperscale customers green developments through ‘bundling new data center campuses with innovative clean energy contract structures that approach zero carbon emissions’.
Segro buys Slough retail park for another data center development
Segro has purchased a retail park in Slough for £120.25 million (~$145m) with the potential to turn it into a data center campus.
The Bath Road Shopping Park is the latest in a series of investments Segro (formerly known as Slough Estates Group) has made in the area, and spans around 11.4 acres and houses 10 retail warehouse units extending to 191,500 sq ft, (17,800 sqm), four of which are currently vacant and available for immediate redevelopment. Those units that remain have leases that expire between 2023 and 2028.
In a press release, Segro described the land as providing ‘an opportunity to redevelop the site into modern warehousing suited to a variety of users, including data centers’.
With land suitable for industrial development in the Thames Valley district hard to come by, the retail park is in a prime location being fewer than 30 miles away from London and on the same street as the Segro-owned Slough Trading Estate.
Macquarie to acquire 40% in VIRTUS Data Centres
ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) has closed a significant investment from Macquarie Asset Management in its European subsidiary, VIRTUS Data Centres (VIRTUS).
The transaction, via Macquarie European Infrastructure Fund 7, will see Macquarie Asset Management take a 40 percent stake. This also makes STT GDC a significant minority shareholder in VIRTUS.
The investment will enable STT GDC to scale up its operations in the European Economic Area (EEA), with new data centre campuses planned in European countries including Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland and others. Together, STT GDC and MAM have ambitious plans for the region with close to £2 billion of investment planned in its target markets over the next five years.
The expansion will complement STT GDC’s current leading position in the UK, where it currently manages 11 data center facilities in the Greater London region through VIRTUS. STT GDC is one of Asia’s largest data center operators and actively manages a portfolio of over 170 data centers in nine countries – Singapore, the United Kingdom, India, China, Thailand, South Korea, Indonesia, Japan and the Philippines.
Digital Realty to expand data centre presence in Athens
Lamda Hellix, a Digital Realty Company confirms plans to expand its presence in Athens, Greece, with the construction of two new data centres.
The first facility referred to ATH3, is already under construction and set to become operational by March 2023. Once completed, the site will become the largest data centre in the country, delivering up to 6.8MW of capacity across its 8,600 sqm floorplan.
“These new facilities will add needed capacity and further strengthen the connected data communities that have developed in our data centres,” said Apostolos Kakkos, chairman and CEO of Lamda Hellix.
“Our continued investment in Greece will provide critical infrastructure for the country, which is necessary for the acceleration of cloud and content providers’ entrance into the market, and which further contributes to digital transformation and economic growth.”
Digital 9 commits £903m spend on fibre and data centres by end of 2027
Digital 9 Infrastructure, the company that owns Aqua Comms, Verne Global and a new Europe-to-India cable, is boosting its investment in the industry.
The company announced this morning that it will spend £264 million over this year and a further £639 million over the following four years – a total of £903 million by the end of 2027.
This is in addition to the £46 million the company committed to three existing projects.
Digital 9 (D9) chair Phil Jordan (pictured) said: “The business performance and our latest forecasts demonstrate the strength of our portfolio’s revenues and profitability. The majority of D9’s portfolio comprises capital intensive businesses, underpinned by an exponential demand for data, and the growth opportunities for each can be supported by a visible pipeline of investment which is already part-funded by the group.”
Digital Realty names ex-GE CFO new APAC boss
US data centre REIT Digital Realty (NYSE: DLR) has named Serene Nah as Managing Director, Head of Asia Pacific. In this role, the executive will lead the group’s regional team to continue the company’s local expansion efforts.
Nah has experience in pan-Asia infrastructure real estate and technology investment and joins Digital Realty from Kerry Properties, where she was Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer in charge of finance, corporate development, strategy, and operations.
Prior to that role, she was Head of Portfolio Management in Asia for Silverlake Partners, a global technology private equity firm.
She honed her skills in finance, mergers and acquisitions and business transformation in various roles with General Electric over 10 years. Her last role at GE was CFO of GE Capital Greater China.
Verne Global expands board with new hires from Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Liquid and Amazon
Verne Global, a Digital 9 Infrastructure plc (LON: DGI9) business, has announced the expansion of its senior leadership team with three key appointments: Mike Allen as Chief Operating Officer; Kate Hennessy as Chief Financial Officer; and Hildegard van Zyl as General Counsel.
The new senior leaders will help support future growth as the group’s platform counts now with five data campuses in Iceland, London (UK), and Finland.
As COO, Mike Allen will be responsible for optimising the organisation’s operational capabilities and implementing business strategies. He is a data centre industry veteran, predominantly in the financial services sector. He has spent the last 20 years between Goldman Sachs and, more recently, JPMorgan Chase, where he was Global Head of Data Center Services.
New CFO Hennessy will manage the finances of Verne Global’s expanding data centre portfolio, using her experience to draw out the synergies and economies of scale across the company’s different locations.
Nordic investor Hyperco grows board as it announces hyperscale expansion
One of the Nordic’s newest data centre investors, Hyperco, has appointed Christoffer Hillbom to the role of Chief Operating Officer whilst announcing a 50MW investment in Finland.
First on the board growth, Hillbom has been tasked with supporting the Hyperco team by providing critical capacity to hyperscale data centre customers. Based in Sweden, he will begin his new role immediately.
Hillbom has a wealth of experience in the data centre industry having previously worked at Stack Infrastructure and DigiPlex, where he played a key role in negotiating hyperscale developments and leases in the Nordics.
Aleksi Taipale, Hyperco co-founder and partner, said: “We are excited to welcome Christoffer Hillbom to the Hyperco team.
Iron Mountain gets new digital EVP
Iron Mountain (NYSE: IRM) has announced that Mithu Bhargava has joined the company as Executive Vice President and General Manager for digital solutions.
As a member of the Executive Leadership Team, she will report to CEO, William Meaney and oversee the innovation, execution, and growth of Iron Mountain’s digital products, solutions and go-to-market strategy.
Bhargava is a seasoned executive with an established track record at building and leading high-performing global and customer-centric businesses, having successfully led global teams in digital sales, services, and engineering at Akamai Technologies, Dell-EMC, NCR Corporation, and most recently as the President of Solifi.
Chief executive Meaney said: “We are excited to welcome Mithu to the Iron Mountain family. With her extensive knowledge and deep experience in technology and business services, we look forward to the contributions that she and her team will bring to our dynamic digital strategy as we continue to forge ahead on our Matterhorn growth journey.”