‘Largest Expansion Ever’: Vantage Data Centers $2 Billion Bet In Europe

Rapidly growing Vantage Data Centers is embarking on its biggest global expansion ever starting with the acquisition of Etix Everywhere and $800 million in new capital.

“As data center demand from our customer base continues to rapidly increase worldwide, Vantage is embarking upon its largest expansion ever into Europe through the development of five strategic markets,” said Sureel Choksi, president and CEO of Vantage, in a statement. “The acquisition of Etix accelerates our expansion to Frankfurt, Europe’s highest growth hyperscale market.”

With the acquisition of Luxembourg-based Etix, Vantage Data Centers will gain Etix’s data center portfolio, which includes a 55-megawatt campus in Germany. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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Although the acquisition of Etix is important, the Denver-based wholesale data center provider has a much larger vision in terms of taking market share in Europe. The company is investing a whopping $2 billion in building multiple hyperscale data centers across Europe.

The data center construction tear is being fueled by more than $800 million in equity recently provided by Vantage Data Centers investors and a new commitment from Digital Colony Partners. “Vantage’s expansion into Europe is the company’s next step in becoming a premier, global hyperscale data center provider,” said Digital Colony’s CEO Marc Ganzi. “We are excited to support their team, their customers and their growth plan, and fueling Vantage Europe’s rapid build-out.”

Vantage Data Centers has secured land and is planning to develop multiple hyperscale data center campuses in Berlin, Milan, Warsaw and Zurich. The company plans to development five new facilities including a 64-megawatt campus in Berlin; 55-megawatt campus in Frankfurt; 32-megawatt campus in Milan; 64-megawatt campus in Warsaw; and a 40-megawatt campus in Zurich.

Vantage Data Centers is striving to win large deals in the hyperscale data center market which has taken over the industry in the last several years led by Apple, Amazon, Facebook, Google and Microsoft. These giant cloud providers are spending billions each quarter on building and equipping massive facilities, known as hyperscale data centers, on a global basis.

Hyperscale operators accounted for 33 percent of all spending on data center hardware and software in the first three quarters of 2019, up from 26 percent in 2017 and an increase from 15 percent in 2015. Hyperscale capex data center spending was on pace to break the record in 2019, where in the third quarter alone, saw spending exceeding $31 billion, up 8 percent year over year.

When all of Vantage Data Centers’ current projects are completed, the company will operate hyperscale data center campuses in 11 markets globally.

The company operates six data centers across North America, including in Montreal; Northern Virginia; Quebec City; Phoenix; Silicon Valley; and Quincy, Washington.

Vantage Data Centers has decades of experience in data center design, construction, and operations for companies including Amazon, Digital Realty, Equinix and Cisco. The company provides power and customized solutions as well as a slew of services and project management offerings.