UBS Asset Management (UBS-AM) Real Estate & Private Markets (REPM) today announced the 100% acquisition of Datum Datacentres, a UK colocation data center operator, from Darwin Private Equity.
Datum Datacentres – Overview
Datum Datacentres operates one facility, known as Datum FRN1, in Farnborough, England, a town ~31 miles (50 kilometers) southwest of London. Specifically, the data center is located in Cody Technology Park, a campus also home to Ark Data Centres, Vodafone, and UKCloud. At this data center, the company currently has available, or is in the process of developing, a total of 6 megawatts of power capacity.
Also, UBS Asset Management will commit additional equity to Datum Datacentres to fund its growth. To this end, the company will pursue site expansion and opportunities to develop into a broader platform.
Existing Capacity – Datum FRN1
Datum Datacentres’ FRN1 has 2 megawatts of power capacity built-out on its lower floor. Additionally, Datum FRN1 has 2 megawatts of power capacity on its upper floor, in shell and core, which is available for custom technical design. Presently, Datum FRN1 has capacity for 1.0k+ colocation racks across 44.0k sqft of data center space.
Power
Datum Datacentres has access to a 6 MVA power supply, which is upgradeable to 7.5 MVA.
In terms of energy efficiency, the company is able to achieve a PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) of 1.25. Finally, the Datum FRN1 facility uses 100% renewable energy alongside an active carbon-offsetting program.
Expansion Potential – Datum FRN2
Datum Datacentres notes the potential to develop an additional facility on-site, known as FRN2. Indeed, planning has already been approved for two new 1-megawatt data halls at the adjacent FRN2.
Customers
Datum Datacentres’ existing capacity is fully-contracted by large public & enterprise sector customers and managed IT service providers.
UBS Asset Management (UBS-AM) Real Estate & Private Markets (REPM) – Digital Infrastructure
Beyond the UK’s Datum Datacentres, UBS Asset Management has committed both equity and debt financing in the digital infrastructure sector, elsewhere in Europe. Specifically, select examples of UBS Asset Management’s funding commitments include:
Infrastructure Equity
- Lünecom: €160m equity commitment to Lünecom, a fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) provider in rural Northern Germany
Infrastructure Debt
- Lefdal Mine Datacenter: €50m debt financing to support the expansion of the Norway data center beyond its existing 20-megawatt capacity. Notably, Lefdal Mine Datacenter’s equity owners are Columbia Threadneedle European Sustainable Infrastructure Fund (ESIF) and Friedhelm Loh Group
- TNG: participated in €73m of debt financing for TNG, a fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) provider in rural and urban areas of Germany
Transaction Advisors – UBS Asset Management (UBS-AM), Datum Datacentres
UBS Asset Management’s financial advisor was Quantuma. Additionally, UBS Asset Management’s legal advisor was Pinsent Masons.
Datum Datacentres’s legal advisor was Travers Smith.
