nLighten, a digital infrastructure platform of I Squared Capital, a leading global infrastructure investor, has completed the acquisition of Proximity Data Centres. Proximity stands out as a prominent regional platform within the UK, boasting an impressive network of ten carrier-neutral edge data centers strategically located in Birmingham, Bridgend, Bristol, Chester, Leeds, Liverpool, Milton Keynes, Nottingham, Rugby, and Swindon. The transaction received financial advisory support from RBC Capital Markets, demonstrating their expertise in guiding nLighten through this significant endeavor.
“Through organic growth and strategic acquisitions this year, nLighten has grown into a leading pan-European edge data center platform with 26 data centers, 53 megawatts of potential capacity and 130 employees,” said Mohamed El Gazzar, Senior Partner of I Squared Capital in London. “We are excited that nLighten has grown so quickly and established itself in the three largest data center markets in Europe: Germany, France and the UK.”
As a mature market with large economic regions that can benefit from more distributed data centers, the UK is a logical choice for nLighten’s expansion. Proximity’s array of high-performing data centers, coupled with their esteemed reputation, adaptability, and a history of successfully penetrating local markets, position the company favorably to seize the growing trend toward edge computing throughout the nation.
The regional distribution of Proximity’s data centers fit well within nLighten’s strategy of integrating data centers into regional markets and its high standards of sustainability align with nLighten, which aims to reduce the environmental footprints of its data centers. Proximity’s ten data centers presently derive all their electricity from renewable sources, and the firm plans to uphold this commitment, even when operating at maximum capacity.
Given the evolving standards for data sovereignty in Europe, nLighten plans to keep the operational management of its data centers in the country and places great emphasis on their identification with the UK market.
“The acquisition of Proximity brings us a big step closer to our goal of creating the leading pan-European edge data center platform”, says Harro Beusker, co-founder and CEO of nLighten. “Proximity’s edge data centers are a great fit for our portfolio, and the existing management team, staff and assets lay a solid foundation for our ambitions in the UK.”
“Being part of the nLighten group of data centers will accelerate the expansion of our portfolio of new products and services tailored for the edge computing market”, commented John Hall, co-founder and Managing Director at Proximity. “We will also be able to provide a highly comprehensive solution to customers looking for a broad network of data centers across multiple European locations.”
Feature image credit: Unsplash
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