Antin Infrastructure Partners is acquiring Dutch company NorthC Datacenters from DWS and other minority shareholders.
The Amsterdam-based data center operator manages 25 colocation sites in the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland and has more than 140 MW of secured grid capacity to support future growth. The acquisition is being made through Antin’s fifth Flagship fund and is expected to be completed in the first half of 2026, following completion of the necessary regulatory processes.
DWS, the selling party, is a German asset manager that is part of Deutsche Bank. Through its infrastructure division, the company invests in sectors such as energy, networks, and data centers. NorthC has been part of that portfolio since 2019, the year in which the company was created through the merger of two Dutch data center operators.
Antin is a European infrastructure investor with offices in Paris, London, and New York. The company focuses on investments in sectors such as digital infrastructure, energy, transportation, and social services. In the digital domain, Antin has previously invested in data center and connectivity companies in various European countries, including a regional data center platform in the United Kingdom. This has given the company experience in scaling up colocation and network services within regulated and competitive markets.
NorthC grew strongly
Since NorthC was formed in 2019, the organization has significantly strengthened its position in Northwest Europe. Under the leadership of CEO Alexandra Schless, the company expanded into Germany and Switzerland and achieved growth through both new locations and targeted acquisitions. NorthC now serves more than 1,600 customers in sectors such as cloud and IT services, telecommunications, government, financial services, industry, transportation, and healthcare.
Antin sees room for further growth in the colocation market, partly due to increasing IT outsourcing, broader cloud adoption, and the growing need for data processing. The investor indicates that NorthC has opportunities to strengthen its position within this playing field and expects that the company can take further steps with additional support.
DWS describes NorthC as a company that has built up a strong position in the Benelux and DACH regions in recent years and also sees a clear role for colocation infrastructure within the digital economy in the longer term. According to the investor, NorthC has a foundation on which it can continue to build under new ownership.
Schless indicates that the collaboration with DWS enabled the company to grow. She also says that the transition to Antin offers new opportunities for the next phase of development. She points to Antin’s experience with digital infrastructure and business development.
Evercore and Torch Partners acted as financial advisors to NorthC, with Latham & Watkins as legal advisor. Guggenheim Securities and the firms Clifford Chance and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett advised Antin.