BentallGreenOak (BGO) has extended its real estate investment strategy to include data centres via a partnership with Nordics developer Bulk Infrastructure.

The global real estate investment manager has committed NOK 1.5bn (€140m) to Bulk Infrastructure and joins existing shareholders Bulk Industrier and Geveran to support the future growth of Bulk Infrastructure’s core lines of business.

Bulk Infrastructure is a Nordic data centre, fibre network developer and operator, and logistics real estate developer. Bulk Infrastructure, in partnership with BentallGreenOak, expects to invest in the continuing development of its N01 Data Centre Campus in south Norway.

As part of the newly created partnership, John Carrafiell, senior managing partner and co-founder of BentallGreenOak, will join Bulk Infrastructure’s board of directors. Peder Nærbø, founder of Bulk Industrier, will remain the chairman of the board and Bulk Industrier will remain as lead investor.

Carrafiell said the partnership with Bulk Infrastructure is a perfect match for BGO, as he explains that that BGO has been focused on the European logistics market since 2013, and, similar to Bulk’s own evolution, considers data centres to be a natural extension of the firm’s real estate investment strategy.

“Bulk Infrastructure’s commitment to building on the Nordic region’s natural advantages to deliver strong economic and environmental performance in real estate and infrastructure is well-aligned with BGO’s own investment priorities,” Carrafiell said.

“With a top tier international investor like BentallGreenOak in our company, we will enable faster growth and better scale for our opportunities”, Nærbø said.

Bulk Infrastructure CEO, Jon Gravråk, said: “This partnership provides us with a solid financial platform as Bulk Infrastructure is opportunity-rich in all three business areas.

“As an example, we see opportunity for major capacity add in our three existing data centre campuses as well as in other Nordic destinations.

”Bulk Infrastructure’s combination of reliable and cost-effective access to 100% green power from renewable sources, cold climate, stable business environment, and well-positioned fibre optic network, is uniquely situated to attract a significant share of the rapidly growing European and global data centre market.”

To read the digital edition of the latest IPE Real Assets magazine click here. 

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