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AXA IM acquires DATA4 and its 15 data centres across Europe
Wed, 25th Jul 2018
FYI, this story is more than a year old

AXA Investment Managers (AXA IM) – Real Assets has acted on behalf of AXA France to acquire DATA4's remaining shares from Colony Capital.

Since 2012 AXA IM - Real Assets has held a 37 percent stake in the European data center specialist operations and with today's announcement now accounts for 100 percent.

According to DATA4, AXA IM – Real Assets has been involved in the governance of the company since the beginning of its investment, supporting it as it tackles the challenges of digital transformation and recognising the strong potential of the internet infrastructure sector.

“We are very pleased with this investment from AXA IM - Real Assets, with whom we've been collaborating with for six years now and who know our company and the sector very well,” says DATA4 chairman and CEO Olivier Micheli.

“This is a clear show of support for us as we continue to grow and sends a signal of stability and continuity, whilst also recognising our company's continued performance. Together we have the ambition of accelerating the execution of our strategy, reinforcing the strength of our offering in current markets whilst expanding our European footprint.

DATA4 was originally established in 2006 by Colony Capital and now operates 15 data centers across Paris, Milan, and Luxembourg. According to the company, there will be further international expansion in the near future, including the imminent opening of a new site in Madrid.

The specialist in dedicated and shared data hosting offers services to cloud suppliers, digital service firms, and large- and medium-sized companies. DATA4 finances, designs, builds, and operates its own data centers.

“We are pleased to have made this strategic investment in DATA4 which has achieved a leading position in Europe thanks to its excellent operational team and high quality portfolio of assets, while it also benefits from an ambitious development pipeline,” says AXA IM – Real Assets CEO Isabelle Scemama.

“We have a clear aim to grow the platform whilst striving to deliver the best value for our clients through the acquisition of new sites. The combination of the operational expertise of the DATA4 team and the sourcing and execution capabilities of AXA IM - Real Assets' investment professionals should prove the platform a valuable asset to us in delivering on our ambition.