Antin Infrastructure Partners, a private equity firm, has agreed to acquire NorthC Datacenters, a major enterprise colocation operator in Northwest Europe, from DWS and minority shareholders. The deal, executed through Antin’s €10.2 billion (US$ 12 billion) Flagship Fund V, will expand the investor’s digital infrastructure footprint across the region. Terms were not disclosed and closing is expected in the first half of 2026, subject to regulatory approval.
In a press release, Antin revealed that Amsterdam-based NorthC currently operates 25 data centres in the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland, and serves more than 1,600 blue-chip customers across cloud and IT service providers, carriers, public sector and financial institutions, industry, transport and the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors. Founded in 2019 through the merger of two Dutch operators, today NorthC has more than 140 MW of secured gross grid capacity from existing and greenfield sites to support future growth.
Stéphane Ifker, Managing Partner and Maximilian Lindner Investment Partner, Antin, said, “NorthC is the leading operator in this space in Europe. NorthC is well positioned to accelerate its expansion and consolidate its leadership in a fast-growing and increasingly strategic segment of the digital infrastructure market.
Harold D’Hauteville, Head, Infrastructure Equity, DWS, said, “NorthC’s consistent focus on providing high quality colocation services to its clients across the Benelux and DACH region has established the business as a regional leader. We see strong growth potential in the enterprise colocation sector, as essential infrastructure required to enable the digital transformation and AI. We have no doubt that the management will continue to scale the business to reach new heights under its new ownership in the years to come.”
Alexandra Schless, NorthC CEO, said, “We are grateful to DWS for its support over the past years, and are delighted to work alongside Antin to continue taking the company forward. Antin’s direct experience of colocation data centres and knowledge of the enterprise end-customer market will be strong assets to help us seize the many growth opportunities that lie ahead.”
Antin’s investment aligns with its strategy of scaling critical digital infrastructure. The firm has previously backed UK colocation platform Pulsant as well as fibre and tower businesses across Europe. Antin will invest alongside Schless and the management team.