Digital Realty and a consortium of Equinix and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board are both trying to acquire the Scandinavian company atNorth. Partners Group, the owner of atNorth, is reportedly aiming for around €4.5 billion for the pan-Nordic data center operator.
This is according to Bloomberg, based on sources. atNorth operates data centers in Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland. Partners Group acquired the company in January 2022. The current bidding round is said to have passed both Digital Realty and the Equinix-CPPIB consortium.
Strategic value for major players
For both Digital Realty and Equinix, an acquisition of atNorth would mean direct access to the Northern European data center market. Both parties already own and operate data centers in Asia-Pacific, Europe, and America.
Partners Group previously invested heavily in atNorth with a view to expansion. The Swiss investment company wanted to turn the Scandinavian company into a leading pan-Nordic provider. The current sale should result in a significant return for Partners Group.
Negotiations are still ongoing, and there is no certainty about a final deal. Digital Realty Trust, CPPIB, and Partners Group have not responded to Bloomberg’s reporting. atNorth supports BNP Paribas, AI infrastructure operator Crusoe, and visual content studio RVX, among others. The Scandinavian countries attract data center companies due to the availability of green energy and their cooler climates.
Digital Realty and Equinix know each other well from previous transactions. In 2016, Digital Realty purchased eight European data centers from Equinix for $874 million. At the time, that sale was a condition imposed by the European Commission following Equinix’s acquisition of TelecityGroup.