Echelon Data Centres has secured an initial €1.7 billion loan financing from Morgan Stanley, as the Irish-headquartered company looks to accelerate its expansion across Europe – including here in the UK.
The new facility is designed to strengthen the company’s capital base, while supporting its next phase of growth across its campus portfolio. A key target for the company will be boosting investment in power infrastructure – a critical issue in several of Europe’s busiest and most constrained data centre markets.
The announcement is significant given the ongoing race for data centre capacity across Europe, where developers are under pressure not only to secure land and customers, but also grid connections and power availability. Echelon is positioning itself to scale in that environment, particularly in Ireland, where supply constraints have become a defining feature of the market.
According to the company, Echelon now has eight campuses across Europe totalling 1.2GW of capacity, with 400MW either operational or under development. The fresh financing is expected to help it progress projects across Ireland, the UK, Spain and Italy.
David Smith, Deputy CEO of Echelon Data Centres, noted, “Ireland is one of Europe’s most important and supply-constrained data centre markets, and we have established the leading position in the Irish market through the delivery of large-scale campus developments supported by innovative power solutions developed in partnership with customers, regulators and grid stakeholders.
“Over the past 15 months, we have expanded into Spain – in joint venture with Europe’s largest utility, Iberdrola – and into Italy, extending our development model into new strategic markets.
“We are incredibly proud of the growth Echelon has achieved over the past several years and excited for the opportunity ahead. Demand for digital infrastructure across Europe is substantial and long term, and our ambition is to continue expanding our platform to support the growth of our customers in key strategic markets.”
Charlie Etheridge, Head of Investments at Echelon Data Centres, added, “This €1.7 billion financing strengthens our capital position and provides the flexibility to execute on our pipeline at scale and at pace.
“It reflects the quality of our platform and the strong institutional support behind our strategy. We are pleased to continue our valued partnership with Morgan Stanley as we advance the next phase of our European expansion.”
