NTT Ltd and Macquarie Asset Management (MAM) today announced that they have entered into a strategic real estate partnership, whereby Macquarie will invest in and gain co-ownership of NTT’s wholesale data centers across Europe and North America. Per Nikkei, the deal reportedly involves Macquarie acquiring the majority of the shares in the operating companies that own NTT’s data centers in Europe and North America for ~$816m (100bn Japanese yen). As such, NTT will maintain minority stakes ranging from 25% to 49% in these various operating companies.

Through NTT Global Data Centers, the company is the third largest carrier-neutral data center operator globally with over 1,300 megawatts of data center capacity. Additionally, NTT has a significant development pipeline which will deliver a 25% increase to its capacity (i.e., 325+ megawatts), across more than 20 countries and regions globally.

NTT Global Data Centers – Europe, North America

Collectively, NTT Global Data Centers’ portfolio across both Europe and North America comprises 620+ megawatts of critical IT load across 4.4 million sqft (411k sqm).

Europe

NTT Global Data Centers operates in 9 markets in Europe through a portfolio of 20 facilities. Overall, NTT’s Europe portfolio offers 320+ megawatts of critical IT load across 2.15 million sqft (200k sqm). However, given that Macquarie is investing in NTT’s wholesale data centers, smaller facilities (e.g., Hamburg 1) may be excluded from the partnership.

NTT Global Data Centers Europe Map

As shown above and detailed below, NTT’s data centers in Europe reside in the markets of Vienna, Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Amsterdam, Madrid, Zurich, and London.

Data CenterCountryIT Load (MW)sqft
Vienna 1Austria16.092.6k
Berlin 1Germany17.0166.8k
Berlin 2 – Building AGermany12.051.7k
Frankfurt 1Germany62.0699.7k
Frankfurt 2Germany1.217.2k
Frankfurt 3Germany52.0303.5k
Frankfurt 4 – Building AGermany12.051.7k
Hamburg 1Germany0.813.2k
Munich 1Germany1.221.1k
Munich 2Germany14.066.7k
Amsterdam 1Netherlands20.780.7k
Madrid 1Spain6.038.8k
Zurich 1Switzerland20.0118.4k
London 1UK32.0137.8k
Hemel Hempstead 1UK2.043.1k
Hemel Hempstead 2UK5.824.5k
Hemel Hempstead 3UK20.096.4k
Hemel Hempstead 4UK24.0103.3k
Slough 2UK1.89.6k
Slough 3UK2.716.3k
Total3232.15m

North America

NTT Global Data Centers operates 7 campuses, comprising 13 facilities in the United States. Together, this North America portfolio offers 300+ megawatts of critical IT load across 2.3 million sqft (211k sqm).

NTT Global Data Centers United States Map

As shown above and detailed below, NTT’s data centers in North America reside in the markets of Sacramento, Silicon Valley, Chicago, Hillsboro, Dallas, Ashburn, and Phoenix.

Data CenterMarketStateIT Load (MW)sqft
CA1SacramentoCalifornia12.6250k
CA2SacramentoCalifornia26.1250k
CA3SacramentoCalifornia14.0180k
SV1Silicon ValleyCalifornia16.0160k
CH1ChicagoIllinois36.0126k
HI1HillsboroOregon36.0138k
TX1DallasTexas16.0230k
VA1AshburnVirginia14.4150k
VA2AshburnVirginia14.0140k
VA3AshburnVirginia16.0245k
VA4AshburnVirginia32.0140k
VA5AshburnVirginia32.0140k
PH1PhoenixArizona36.0126k
Total3012.3m

Rationale – Macquarie Asset Management, NTT

Macquarie Asset Management

Macquarie Asset Management views the partnership with NTT as an opportunity to invest real estate capital alongside NTT to support its expansion in Europe and North America. To this end, NTT plans to build and operate more data centers under its strategic partnership with Macquarie.

For example, NTT’s presence in Ashburn, Virginia spans five data centers, with four more planned, over two campus locations. At full build-out, the Ashburn campus will offer 224 megawatts of critical IT load and 970k sqft of data floor space.

Additionally, in the UK, NTT’s London 1 data center has the ability to scale-up significantly, given its on-site substation which delivers 80 MVA of power. Importantly, Macquarie has shown its appetite to invest in the UK through its recent talks with the UK Government regarding a potential £10bn ($13.5bn USD) investment in UK infrastructuremuch of which would be in the digital sub-sector.

NTT

For NTT, Macquarie’s capital enables the company to accelerate its data center development projects in Europe and North America. By jointly funding future data center builds with Macquarie, NTT can reduce its direct capital commitment towards growing its portfolio. This is important, given that NTT Global Data Centers’ funding ultimately comes from its parent company Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (TYO: 9432), a Japanese telecommunications company whose public shareholders are focused on the broader company’s total capital expenditure spend.

Similarly, NTT has pursued this joint investment strategy through partnerships with Tokyo Century, a financial services company in Japan, to develop new hyperscale data centers in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, India.

Mary Zhang covers Data Centers for Dgtl Infra, including Equinix (NASDAQ: EQIX), Digital Realty (NYSE: DLR), CyrusOne, CoreSite Realty, QTS Realty, Switch Inc, Iron Mountain (NYSE: IRM), Cyxtera (NASDAQ: CYXT), and many more. Within Data Centers, Mary focuses on the sub-sectors of hyperscale, enterprise / colocation, cloud service providers, and edge computing. Mary has over 5 years of experience in research and writing for Data Centers.

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