Swiss real estate investment advisor Stoneweg European Business Trust has made a €50 million investment in the Stoneweg Icona data-centre fund. The company says it is well-positioned to become a leading player in Europe’s rapidly growing hyperscale data centre market.
As there will be other investors in IDC Fund, Stoneweg European BT’s stake in the fund is expected to range from 4% to 8%, depending on the final quantum of investment made by the other investors.
The IDC portfolio comprises interests in four early-stage data centre development sites (225 Ha in total size) located in Denmark, Ireland, Spain, and Italy, with a secured/reserved 1,116 MW of power, with very good visibility for an additional 563MW, for a total of 1,679 MW. The current estimated Gross Development Value over the next 15 years is €29.5 billion at current market values, for the 100% interest in all 4 projects (according to valuer JLL). With this power capacity, IDC would command a more than 14% share of the current European operational power capacity and would be the largest data centre operator in that region.
The sites, for which no further specific information was given, are currently progressing through development approvals and are in various stages of securing pre-leases with major tenant-customers. The company said that several critical planning milestones have already been cleared, which provide a favourable entry point for Stoneweg Europe Stapled Trust (SERT), a stapled group comprising Stoneweg European Real Estate Investment Trust and Stoneweg European Business Trust.
This investment offers SERT early exposure to the IDC Fund, a platform which the company says is well-positioned to become a leading player in Europe’s rapidly growing hyperscale data centre market.
SERT’s portfolio, valued at €2.2 billion, comprises 100+ predominantly freehold properties in or close to major gateway cities in The Netherlands, Italy, France, Poland, Germany, Finland, Denmark, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom. The portfolio spans a total lettable area of approximately 1.7 million sqm and serves more than 800 tenant-customers.
