Global data center major Vantage Data Centers, has joined hands with an international consortium of investors to invest € 2.5 Billion to build data centers across Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). The international consortium of investors is led by MEAG and Infranity, along with funds affiliated with the investment management platform of DigitalBridge Group, Inc.
Vantage Data Centers is a global provider of hyperscale data center campuses, operating across five continents in North America, EMEA and Asia Pacific. MEAG is the asset manager of Munich Re Group. It has branches in Europe, Asia and North America. Infranity is an asset management company specializing in sustainable infrastructure investments, and is part of the Generali Investments’ ecosystem of asset management firms. Meanwhile, Digital Bridge Group is an asset manager dedicated to investing in digital infrastructure, including cell towers, data centers, fiber, small cells and edge infrastructure.
In April this year, Vantage had announced plans to enter into the very partnership that is has now completed. The initial announcement pertained to building six stabilized data centers in strategic locations across Europe, which was valued at approximately €2.5 billion (approximately $2.7 billion), including Vantage’s stake. According to a statement released by Vantage, these data centers span more than 1.8 million gross square feet and 177MW of IT capacity and are located in key strategic markets.
Vantage says that its management team, led by President and CEO Sureel Choksi, will continue to manage and operate these assets as part of its global data center portfolio. The additional capital raised from the Investor Consortium will be used to support the continued growth of Vantage’s EMEA data center platform.
“This Investment Partnership provides Vantage with multiple partners with deep expertise in digital infrastructure,” said Choksi. “This transaction provides Vantage with additional capital to continue our expansion in new and existing markets across EMEA, capitalizing on the extraordinary growth opportunities, driving innovation and delivering state-of-the-art sustainable data centers for our customers.”
Dominik Damaschke, head of infrastructure equity of MEAG, said, “Data centers are the backbone of the increasing digitization of the economy, and we are proud to invest in a portfolio of top-tier hyperscale data centers in Europe. The investment is another milestone in MEAG‘s strategic expansion into digital infrastructure.”
“Infranity has been a prominent investor in digital infrastructure assets in Europe since its business inception with data centers sitting at the heart of the fast and deep digitization of our economies. This partnership with Vantage embodies a shared vision for economic growth and sustainability,” stated Jaime Hector, managing director and co-head of equity team at Infranity. “This investment highlights our unwavering commitment to advancing cutting-edge digital infrastructure, thereby strengthening our resolve to create a more sustainable and interconnected world.”
