Israeli real estate developer Azrieli Group has announced that it will be buying an unnamed London data centre operator for 52 million pounds.
Azrieli, one of Israel’s largest mall operators, added that it was buying an adjacent plot of land near the data centre, and observed that both plots present future development and construction potential.
The company noted that its data centre operations currently account for 12% of its business.
Significant Next Step of Expansion
In 2021, Azrieli Group first expanded its data centre operations to Europe through the signing of an agreement which allowed it to acquire the Norwegian company, Green Mountain, for NIS 2.8 billion.
Green Mountain is a private company operating in the field of server farms with three main areas of focus: the planning and construction of secure server farms, the provision of service farm services to organisations and wholesale customers, and the operation of renewable energy-powered server farms.
Following the acquisition, Azrieli has taken charge of the three server farms Green Mountain owned in Norway, and as of July 2021, had signed contracts for data services amounting to 24 MW, for an average period of 7.5 years.
Azrieli’s acquisition of Green Mountain was a significant part of its overall growth strategy, in line with its interests in the server farm sector and data centre industry. During this first acquisition, Danna Azrieli, Active Chairwoman of the Board at Azrieli Group, expressed her confidence Azrieli’s ability to push into the data centre industry, saying “we are making a significant investment in Europe through the acquisition of a high-quality platform with growth potential, experienced and knowledgeable management, and excellent assets. After several years of the Group’s operating in the field, I believe that the Data Centres sector will be another significant growth engine for Azrieli Group.”
The closing of the most recent London deal reflects Azrieli’s next step of expansion into the data centre sector in a significant market, as London is currently the world’s second-largest data centre market.
Following the company’s London acquisition, Danna Azrieli affirmed the company’s strong ambitions for its expansion, saying that “our vision is to continue developing gradually into several more international markets. London is the ideal location from which to continue developing our data centre platform.”
“Outstanding Data Center Projects” is an awards category for this year’s W.Media Asia-Pacific Cloud & Datacenter Awards. Thinking of nominating or sponsoring? Visit our Awards Page for more information. Nominations are open until 31st July.
