Data Center Investment News — 16/09/2022
DigitalBridge-backed Scala Data Centers plans 28 new sites in $3.5bn investment roadmap
Latin America hosting operator Scala Data Centers is planning the construction of 28 new facilities which will grow its IT capacity by as much as 1,800% by 2027.
In total, the company plans to invest as much as US$3.5 billion to make that plan come true, with US$2 billion expected to be deployed by 2022.
According to chief executive Marcos Peigo, the business whose main competitors include Odata and Digital Realty’s Ascenty, intends to have 33 data centre assets in just five years, 17 of which based in Brazil.
The company is currently expanding in Chile with its first asset but has plans to build at least two more facilities in the South American country. Scala has also previously announced plans to debut in Mexico and Colombia.
Japan’s Nomura reshuffles digital infrastructure deals team
Japanese bank Nomura has named Andrei Milekhin its new global head of digital infrastructure, effective immediately.
The move will see Milekhin lead the corporation’s team of dealmakers advising on digital infrastructure deals.
The executive, which has been with the bank for six years has previously mostly focused on digital infrastructure investment banking deals in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. This was a role similar to the one he held at UBS prior to joining Nomura.
Milekhin will report to Alex Stein and Alex Wotton, co-head of the industrials and infrastructure group, where the digital infrastructure segment sits within the bank.
Yondr drives multibillion Dollar expansion roadmap with hyper German data centre
Yondr Group has unveiled plans to develop a number of data centre facilities in Berlin, Germany, as the company delivers on its multibillion Dollar global expansion pipeline.
The first phase of the Berlin project, located in the municipality of Ragow, is expected to deliver 10MW of capacity and is expected to be ready for service in 2024. When fully developed, the data centre campus will have a total capacity of 42MW.
Yondr’s latest project in Berlin will bring the company’s total IT capacity in the German market to 82MW and deliver critical network routes across key German and European metros, including opening up new network routes into Eastern Europe.
This announcement follows the recent launch of the company’s 40MW data centre facility in Frankfurt.
Novva Data Centers unveils $400m facility financed by CIM’s growth equity investment
Novva Data Centers has released plans to open a new data centre in North Las Vegas, Nevada, in a capital investment set to hit the US$400 million mark.
Construction on the 275,000 square foot, 100MW facility began in October 2021, with servers expected to come online in late 2023.
The data centre, which will be located on a 20-acre campus, is Novva’s third location, joining existing facilities in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and West Jordan, Utah.
Wes Swenson, founder and CEO of Novva Data Centers, said: “Since our founding, Novva has sought to bring purpose-built, futuristic, eco-friendly facilities to the Western United States and we’ve been very selective and intentional with our site locations.
Cyxtera’s board thumbs up transition into data centre REIT
US-based data centre colocation house Cyxtera (NASDAQ: CYXT) said it will convert itself into a real estate investment trust (REIT) following board approval.
The move will see the company join a slowly growing REIT club which includes the likes of Equinix (NASDAQ: EQIX), Digital Realty (NYSE: DLR), and DigitalBridge (NYSE: DBRG).
Cyxtera’s conversion to a REIT has been pushed forward for federal income tax purposes with a target to complete the conversion by January 1, 2023.
Carlos Sagasta, Chief Financial Officer of Cyxtera, said: “Following a thorough analysis of the impact a REIT election would have on our business, we are confident the REIT structure will best position us for continued growth while maximizing long-term shareholder value. We look forward to completing the REIT conversion process over the next few months.”
STACK, ESR form JV to build a hyperscale data centre in South Korea
IPI Partners-backed STACK Infrastructure and APAC’s largest real asset manager ESR Group Limited (SEHK: 1821) have entered into joint venture to develop a 48MW data centre site in Incheon, Korea.
Under the partnership, STACK and ESR secured the facility from KEPCO and construction of the single building will commence in Q1 2023 for delivery of ready-for-service capacity in Q4 2024.
The facility will be operated under the STACK brand.
Pithambar (Preet) Gona, STACK’s Chief Executive Officer – APAC, said: “STACK’s opening of a fifth APAC market in 12 months, expanding on our recent developments in Melbourne, Canberra, Perth and Tokyo, enhances our focus on our customers’ strategic requirements by establishing a scalable presence in existing and emerging Tier 1 data centre markets.
Chinese data centre giant VNET Group evaluating new $1.1bn share buyout
Chinese digital infrastructure player VNET Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: VNET) has confirmed that its Board of Directors has received a preliminary non-binding proposal letter from Josh Sheng Chen, founder of the company and the executive chairman of the Board, proposing to acquire all of the outstanding ordinary shares of the company for US$8.20 in cash per American depositary share (ADS), or approximately US$1.3667 per ordinary share.
The offer is US$.20 up on the latest bid presented last April by China-based investment banking and private equity firm the Hina Group and Industrial Bank Co., Ltd., Shanghai Branch, a Chinese joint-stock commercial bank.
At US$8.20 per ADS, Chen’s proposal values the company at around US$1.1275 billion, slightly above the Hina Group’s bid.
The Board has now formed a special committee consisting of three independent directors, Kenneth Chung-Hou Tai, Sean Shao, and Changqing Ye, to evaluate and consider today’s Proposed Transaction as well as other potential strategic alternatives that the company may pursue. Sean Shao serves as the chairman of the Special Committee.
Data center in Cape Verde to be completed by end of 2022
Construction on a new data center in Cape Verde is due to be completed by the end of the year.
The first phase of construction of the Cabo Verde Technology Park’s main buildings is 85 percent complete and should be ready for the end of 2022.
The Cabo Verde Technology Park is part of the country’s investment in digital transformation in order to diversify an economy currently dependent on tourism. This move has been financially supported by the African Development Bank.
The Cabo Verde Technology Park, based in Praia, Cape Verde, is located less than 2km away from the current NOSi data center, one of the facilities backed by the African Development bank. The park will cover 8 hectares of land and has been estimated to cost US$36.5 million.
Russian construction firm FSK acquires DataHouse & CityTelecom owner Filanco
Russian construction firm FSK Group has acquired digital holding company Filanco Group.
ComNews.ru, FSK has bought 70 percent of the Filanco Group, which offers data center services through its DataHouse unit and telecoms services through its CityTelecom unit.
“Telecommunication services are one of the fastest growing areas of business, so our company bought out a large share of Filanco Group, the remaining 30 percent remained with the previous owner. We are glad that residents of our residential complexes will be able to receive high quality services, the level of which we can control,” said FSK owner & president, Vladimir Voronin.
Filanco operates a number of digital infrastructure and software companies. CityTelecom provides Internet, telephony, and TV services via a 2,000 km fiber-optic network in Moscow and St. Petersburg. DataHouse, launched in 2006, operates three data centers; A 3,475 sqm (37400 sq ft) facility in Moscow purchased from Yandex in 2017 that offers 9.8MW across 475 racks; a 52 sqm (560 sq ft) facility in St. Petersburg that opened in 2010 and offers 0.3MW across 20 racks; and a 114 sqm (1,225 sq ft), 0.8MW facility in Yekaterinburg offering 52 racks.
AQ Compute planning 50MW data center in Barcelona, Spain
AQ Compute has announced plans for a new data center in Barcelona, Spain, and is planning more across Europe.
Announced this week in partnership with CBRE, the company’s second facility will offer a capacity of 50MW and is planned to be ready for operation by mid/end 2024.
According to local press, the facility will be built in the Parc de l’Alba business park in Cerdanyola del Vallès on land previously owned by Cerámicas Catalonia. The company will reportedly be investing around $300 million in the project.
Petter M. Tømmeraas, CEO of AQ Compute, said: “We are delighted to enter this extraordinary agreement that will reshape the landscape of data center services in Europe with a focus on sustainability. The need for computing capacities is rising and, together with CBRE, we will be able to cater for the high demand from clients in Europe and across the globe.”
AREP, Harrison Street ramp up data centre startup launch ahead of first opening in 2023
American Real Estate Partners (AREP), in partnership with Harrison Street, has released more detail on its future US$1 billion data centre startup, PowerHouse Data Centers.
The new hosting division has been designed to offer technical real estate solutions for hyperscalers in Northern Virginia. PowerHouse Data Centers has plans to build six data centres representing 2.1 million square feet of data centre space in the region.
Its Arcola Data Center project, set for completion in 2026, will provide 120 MW of max capacity power, with 80 MW of critical power for a two-building facility with 614,300 sq. ft. of developable space and a data hall area of 364,100 sq. ft. of space.
PowerHouse’s data centre campuses also include the site of the former AOL headquarters on Pacific Boulevard in Ashburn known as PowerHouse Pacific, which will host three data centre build-to-suit data centres for hyperscale tenants.
CyrusOne appoints Equinix head of strategy Eric Schwartz as CEO
CyrusOne has appointed former Equinix executive as its new CEO.
CyrusOne’s Board of Directors announced this week that it has elected Eric Schwartz as chief executive officer effective from October 1, 2022. He succeeds founder Dave Ferdman after his second stint as CEO.
Schwartz spent more than 16 years at Equinix, rising to the role of Chief Strategy and Development Officer.
Schwartz said: “I am thrilled to join CyrusOne to help accelerate the Company’s growth and strengthen our partnerships with our customers. Since the acquisition, Dave and the leadership team have done a great job growing CyrusOne with an ambitious investment program and focused execution, and I look forward to joining the Company and helping our team continue to achieve success.”
Compass files for $64 million data center project outside Dallas
Compass Datacenters has filed for a new data center project in Red Oak, Texas. The company has filed with the state of Texas for a renovation project known as Vallies ELT-1 at 441 N. Austin Blvd, to the south of Dallas.
The project, set to start at the end of September and run to the end of March 2023, is for a tenant fit-out of data hall space, supporting infrastructure spaces, and tenant office space totaling 5,000 sq ft (465 sqm).
In the filing – which the company confirmed to BizJournal – Compass said the estimated cost is $64 million. The site owner is listed as Vallies LLC, which appears to be linked to Dallas-Based Michael Malone Architects, Inc. via a shared phone number.
According to Google Maps, both sides of Austin Blvd in Ellis County are empty aside from some small local businesses on the northern corner. Bombardier and Qarbon Aerospace have facilities along the south of Austin Blvd.
Ardian closes $2.1bn Americas Infrastructure fund
Private investor Ardian has closed its latest infrastructure fund. The company this week announced the final closing of $2.1 billion for its Ardian Americas Infrastructure Fund V (AAIF V).
AAIF V will invest in ‘high-quality, mid-market US and other OECD American essential infrastructure assets’ in the telecommunications, transportation, and energy transition sectors.
“We are thankful for the support of our new and existing investors,” said Mathias Burghardt, member of the executive committee and head of Ardian Infrastructure. “The success of our latest fundraise clearly demonstrates their continued trust in our approach. We will continue to prioritize long-term value creation through our disciplined industrial approach.”
Ardian said the fund was significantly oversubscribed, exceeding its hard cap of $2 billion, and ‘significantly larger’ than AAIF IV, which raised $800 million in 2018.
Khazna and BEEAH Group to build 9MW data center in Sharjah, UAE
Khazna Data Centers is to build a new data center in Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The wholesale data center firm this week announced that it has formed a joint venture with BEEAH Digital, BEEAH Group’s digital transformation and future technology business, to build a data center in Sharjah.
The newly established joint venture will be called One Data Center SPV Limited and will operate under the name of Khazna Data Centers.
The new data center will have a capacity of 9MW and will minimize emissions via solar power. The companies said it will be built to Tier III quality, and constructed to achieve green building certifications from Estidama and LEED. The facility will aim to reduce water consumption with systems to reuse and recycle wastewater.