CVC DIF, the infrastructure business of private markets manager CVC, has agreed to acquire a significant majority stake in Frankfurt-based data center operator firstcolo from Cube Infrastructure Managers. The deal will be made through DIF Value Add IV and is expected to close by the end of September 2026, subject to customary conditions.
Firstcolo will continue to be led by its management team, including CEO and co-founder Jerome Evans, COO and co-founder Nicolaj Kamensek, and CFO Dennis Bergfeld. Representatives from both companies commented on acquisition and how it will enable future digital infrastructure development.
Willem Jansonius, Managing Partner, CVC DIF and Co-head of the DIF Value Add strategy, said, “Firstcolo represents a rare opportunity to invest in a high-quality, founder-led colocation platform in an attractive and supply-constrained FLAP-D data center market. The company combines a resilient, cash-generative existing business with a substantially de-risked expansion project and a differentiated service offering for enterprise customers.”
Stefan Moosmann, Head of DACH, CVC DIF, said, “Firstcolo is a strong example of CVC DIF’s local-for-local approach in action. The opportunity was sourced through our Frankfurt team’s local network and developed in seamless collaboration with our pan-European digital infrastructure team.”
Jerome Evans, CEO and Co-founder, firstcolo, said, “This partnership marks an important new chapter for firstcolo, and strengthens our ability to execute our long-term growth strategy. FRA7 is more than a single data center development: it is the first building block of a scalable, high-performance infrastructure platform designed to support the next generation of AI, cloud and enterprise workloads in Germany.”
Nicolaj Kamensek, COO and Co-founder, firstcolo, said, “Our next phase of growth will apply these principles at a significantly larger scale. FRA7 is being designed as a highly efficient, AI-ready facility with the power, cooling, connectivity and operational processes required for demanding high-density workloads. The experience gained through its delivery will provide a practical blueprint for the planning and operation of further data centers.”
The company is also developing FRA7, a new data center in Rosbach in the Frankfurt metropolitan region and the facility will have 24 MW of total gross capacity. The site, power supply, permits and fixed-price turnkey construction arrangements are in place, while tenant commitments have already been secured. The project is being developed with a regional utility provider, which will supply its energy and waste heat will be made available for the local district heating network.