Global, US-based asset managers are pushing the pedal on European data centre investment. This week, New York-based Brookfield teamed up with an unnamed global sovereign investor to lend €500m to Singaporean data centre specialist DayOne Data Centers for two hyperscale data centres in the Finnish cities of Lahti and Kouvola.
The mezzanine financing facility can be expanded to €1bn upon mutual agreement, with the loan being secured by DayOne’s Finnish platform.
The financing adds to $1.9bn raised by DayOne across its Series A and Series B equity rounds, and further supports its expansion in Europe where the operator announced a €1.2bn investment commitment in August in the Lahti facility alone.
“Brookfield is uniquely positioned to provide flexible, large scale financing solutions for high operators like DayOne that are enabling the global shift toward AI and cloud-driven data demand given our experience in digital infrastructure,” said Sean Robertson, infrastructure debt senior vice president, Brookfield.
The news follows the creation in November of a €2bn 50-50 data centre development joint venture between ACS and Blackrock’s Global Infrastructure Partners as well as the launch of a Spanish development data centre partnership between Iberdrola and Starwood. Iberdrola, which will hold a 20% stake in the joint venture, will provide land connected to the electricity grid while Starwood-backed data centre specialist Echelon will hold the remaining 80%. The first development, Madrid Sur, will be a 160,000m2 campus with 144 MW of initial processing capacity.
Central European investor DL Invest also made a move in the European data centre market this week. The company, which just completed its first public Eurobond issue raising €350m, signed a partnership with data centre technology specialist Boosteroid to support AI, edge computing, cloud services and gaming infrastructure with the development of its first data centre located in Poland. At the same time, DL Invest has acquired an 18% stake in Abrdn European Logistics Income plc (ASLI) which it plans to turn into a major European REIT focused on logistics and data centres in Central Europe.
“Our goal is to build the first pan-European REIT based on logistics assets and data centres across Central Europe – a region with the fastest-growing economy in the EU, strong demand from global logistics and e-commerce tenants, and a rapidly expanding need for modern warehouse and digital infrastructure,” says Dominik Leszczyński, founder & CEO of DL Invest Group.
| Recently completed deals | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asset | Asset type | Location | Buyer | Vendor | Size | Price (mln) | Key facts |
| operating arm of PRS REIT | corporate | UK | UK government pension scheme | Shareholders | 5,478homes | £1.100 (€1257) | PRS Holdco’s entire portfolio will be jointly owned by the Northern LGPS and LPPI, which manage investments on behalf of two ‘pools’ of LGPS funds. |
| 70 St Mary Axe | office | London | Hayfin Capital Management, Capreon | Nuveen Real Estate | 301,400sqft | £340 (€389) | The Can of Ham property is currently fully let to 13 blue-chip tenants. |
| Holiday Inn Kensington High | hotel | London | CDL | Cola Holdings | 706 rooms | £280 (€319) | The hotel includes a restaurant, bar, 13 meeting rooms and a spa with pool. |
| McLaren Campus | office | Woking, UK | NA | Global Net Lease | 840,000sqft | £250 (€286) | The deal, which will close later this month, reflects a 7.4% cash cap rate. |
| PBSA asset | living | Manchester | L&G | McLaren Property | 737beds | £160 (€183) | The scheme will comprise two buildings with amenity provision including a community facility, café and new accessible public realm. |
| two logistics assets | logistics | Italy | Hines, Colliers Global Investors Italy SGR | NA | 73,000m2 | €170 | The deal involves two assets in Castel San Giovanni (Piacenza), and five fully let assets spread across Novara and Turin. |
| 10 Avenue Hoche | office | Paris | Deka Immobilien | Unnamed institutional investors | 4,500m2 | €100 | The property is fully let on a long-term basis to international law firm Mayer½Brown. |
| three fully-let logistics assets | logistics | Vignate, Biandrate, and Rho in Italy | MEP Italy | Principal Asset Management | 110,500m2 | €85 | The acquisitions are part of a new JV between M&G Real Estate and DeA Capital Real Estate in Italy. |
| portfolio of two assets | living | Knivsta, Sweden | Acer Bostad | Genova/Redito | 17,900m2 | €81 (SEK875) | The combined rental value for both properties is approximately SEK 48m (€4.2m). |
| Avenida de América 38 | office | Madrid | Colonial SFL, Andbank España | Grosvenor | 13,000m2 | €80 | The asset is Naturgy’s headquarters in Madrid. |
| 54 Rue de Londres | office | Paris | Tishman Speyer | MEAG | 4,622m2 | €78 | The building is fully leased to IWG. |
| office asset | office | Copenhagen | Danica Ejendomme | Urban Partner | 8,200m2 | €59 (DKK440) | The property was finally constructed in end of 2023 and fully let shortly thereafter. |
| hotel Riviera | hotel | Moss, Norway | Nordic Hospitality Group | Höegh Eiendom | NA | €46 (NOK550) | The hotel is located just 40 minutes from Oslo. |
| Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel | hotel | Kilkenny, Ireland | Lanthorn | Jerry O’Reilly | 118 bedrooms | €32 | The deal was part of a sale of two properties being handled by JLL and dubbed Project Abbey. |
| hotel | hotel | Stafford, UK | Edmond de Rothschild Real Estate Investment Management | NA | NA | NA | The acquisition of the asset, which is fully leased to Travelodge, marks the group’s entry in the UK market. |
| Poyle 80 | logistics | Heathrow | Davies Turner | Panattoni | 79,216sqft | NA | Poyle 80 is a speculatively developed mid box logistics facility. |
| logistics park Rzeszów | logistics | Poland | Accolade and Conseq | Kajima Properties Europe | 33,000m2 | NA | Completed in 2022, the property is leased to a diverse, blue-chip tenant base. |
| 25hours Hotel | hotel | Vienna | Art-Invest Real Estate | JP Immobilien and WertInvest | 216rooms | NA | Originally built in 1971, the 25hours Hotel operated as a student residence before being converted into a hotel in 2013. |
| Schulz Hotels platform | hotel | Berlin | A&O Hostels | Nizar Rokbani, Oskar Kan and Sacha Gechter | 1,000beds | NA | The acquisition will support the hostel company’s growth strategy in its core markets as it looks to accelerate its pan-European growth ambitions. |
| three prime high street retail units | retail | Brussels | AEW | NA | 6,800m2 | NA | AEW said the transaction was completed on behalf of a French institutional client and marks the first retail acquisition by AEW under the mandate in Belgium. |
| Garbe Progresus Park Klášterec I | logistics | Czech Republic | Generali Real Estate | Garbe and Progresus | 18,500m2 | NA | The fully leased asset is located in the Ústí nad Labem region. |
| 70 Fenchurch Street | office | London | Henderson Park | Lloyd’s Register Group | 215,000sqft | NA | Henderson Park plans to refurbish the 215,000sqft asset, built in 2000, into a grade-A office. |
| Piazza San Babila 5 | retail | Milan | Fabrica Sgr | Private investor | NA | NA | The high-street asset is entirely leased under a long term rental agreement. |
| Panattoni Campus Berlin Center | logistics | Berlin | DWS | Panattoni, PGIM | 36,500m2 | NA | Completed in 2023, the campus consists of five buildings. |
| Brownfield project | logistics | Madrid | DWS | Scannell Properties | 43,300m2 | NA | The brownfield project, completed in the first quarter of the year, is partly let. |
| three logistics developments | logistics | France | Argan | NA | 100,000m2 | NA | The three sites will be delivered in H1 2026 and are leased to Ferrero and Puma. |
| two resi developments | living | Germany | Catella Investment Management | WERTGRUND Wohnpartner GmbH | 118 apartments | NA | Completion is planned for 2027. |
| 18% stake in Abrdn European Logistics Income | logistics | Europe | DL Invest | Shareholders | NA | NA | The platform owns logistics assets worth around €170m. |
| Hotel Infante Sagres | hotel | Porto, Portugal | Experimental and Extendam | GAW Capital | 85 rooms | NA | The deal is the first acquisition carried out by a new luxury hotel JV focusing on Europe. |
| Panattoni Park Rzeszów Airport III | logistics | Poland | NA | Panattoni | 33,000m2 | NA | Panattoni Park Rzeszów Airport III is a fully leased complex of two buildings. |
| development portfolio | logistics | UK | Indurent | Cilldara Group and Graftongate | 471,000sqft | NA | The forward-funded portfolio will be developed and delivered by Graftongate in phases between October 2026 and May 2027. |
| Swindon Designer Outlet | retail | Swindon, UK | Frasers Group | LaSalle Investment Management | 250,000sqft | NA | Opened in 1997, the shopping mall has more than 100 stores. |
| Shopping Plaza Garbsen | retail | Hanover | Hilee, Interra | Corestate’s Highstreet VIII fund | 20,654m2 | NA | The insolvency administrator, JLL, was commissioned to handle the sale as part of a structured bidding process. |
| six PBSA assets | living | UK | AustralianSuper | Harrison Street Asset Management | 1,616 beds | NA | This is the first acquisition for AustralianSuper’s new UK living platform, launched in October with an initial commitment of £500m. |
| Kirchstrasse 6, 7, 12 | office | Berlin | NA | CA Immo | 29,700m2 | NA | The property most recently generated annualised gross rental income of around €5m per year. |
| Assets on the market | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asset | Asset type | Location | Vendor | Size | Price (mln) | Broker | Key facts |
| iNua Collection | hotel | Ireland | Private investors | 8 hotels | €100 | NA | The company operates eight hotels, including some Radisson Blu hotels, Muckross Park in Killarney and Tullamore Court. |
| Recently completed loans | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lender(s) | Borrower(s) | Asset(s) | Loan Size (mln) | Key facts |
| Brookfield | DayOne Data Centers | hyperscale data centre rollout in Finland | €500 | The seven-year financing facility, which can be expanded to up to €1bn, will support the rollout of projects in Lahti and Kouvola. |
| British Business Bank | Close Brothers | Unsecured | £350 (€400) | The funding will boost Close Brothers’ lending capacity and help it to provide over £700m to finance the creation of new homes. |
| KKR | Tristan Capital Partners’ EPISO 6 | EasyHotel Platform of 48 assets | €300 | The whole-loan financing will also support growth initiatives for the easyHotel platform, including further advancing the platform’s expansion and investment throughout Europe. |
| Aareal Bank | InterGlobe | European lifestyle hotel portfolio of 9 assets | €250 | The financing supports InterGlobe’s strategy to reposition and upgrade acquired assets. |
| BayernLB, BerlinHyp | NRE Real Estate Group | mixed-use portfolio in Amsterdam | €141 | This transactionis the first deal in the Netherlands where BayernLB has acted as Arranger and Agent |
| Cheyne Capital | ActivumSG | Fairmont La Hacienda Costa del So | €134 | The deal finances the acquisition a newly built, five-star luxury resort located in Spain’s Costa del Sol. |
| KKR | Valor Real Estate Partners | ultra last-mile logistics portfolio in France | €130 | The loan refinances a portfolio of 12 assets located across prime submarkets in Paris and Lyon. |
| IKB | Instone Real Estate | Unsecured | €47.5 | The residential developer intends to use the three-year loan to purchase land. |
| New mandates/JVs and funds on the market | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Firm | Fund/mandate/JV | Strategy | Details |
| Newport by Panattoni | Newport Logistics Fund III | Financing the development, leasing, and sale of 10–12 Class A logistics facilities across Europe. | Newport Logistics Fund III secures first €100m in initial close of a targeted €300m raise. |
| Feldberg Capital and HBD | Series I of Origin UK mid-box industrial and logistics venture | Financing the speculative development of mid-box schemes in the UK. | The strategy attracted £156m of equity commitments. |
| Kern County Employees’ Retirement Association | Fortress Investment Group’s open-ended real estate debt strategy | Providing commercial first mortgages, mezzanine loans, preferred equity and bridge financing in the US and Europe. | The strategy has raised $90 (€77.3) worth of commitments. The fund is targeting the US and Europe. |
| Starwood and Iberdrola | European data centre JV | Investing up to €2bn in the development of data centres | The first development, Madrid Sur, will be a 160,000m2 campus with 144 MW of initial processing capacity. |
| ARGO and Blue Coast | Brown-to-green strategy | Investing £500m in the redevelopment of logistics assets | The platform aims to aggregate a £500m portfolio of urban logistics assets, transforming them into modern, sustainable properties in the UK. |
| Ballymore and Penta Real Estate | London housing JV | Developing new homes in London | The two partners will develop the 434-home Cuba Street on the Isle of Dogs and the 247-home The Capston at Nine Elms. |
