Key takeaways
- nLighten has acquired seven edge data centers from EXA Infrastructure, announced in Amsterdam on 04.04.2024
- The deal lets EXA Infrastructure focus on its owned terrestrial and subsea fibre network and on continuing to invest in infrastructure
- nLighten and EXA are both portfolio companies of I Squared Capital
- Harro Beusker, co-founder and CEO of nLighten, says the acquisition brings it closer to a leading European edge data center platform
- Nick Collins, Chief Commercial Officer at EXA Infrastructure, calls it the start of a collaboration with sister company nLighten
Seven edge data centers change hands
Acquisition will open new markets for nLighten in Belgium, Switzerland and Spain and expands its footprint in France, the UK and the Netherlands
Amsterdam, 04.04.2024 – nLighten, a digital infrastructure platform today announced the strategic acquisition of seven edge data centers from EXA Infrastructure. This strategic move strengthens nLighten's position as a frontrunner in the European data center market and expands its footprint and service offerings across the continent. For EXA Infrastructure, the transaction allows it to focus on its extensive, owned terrestrial and subsea fibre network, and on continuing to invest in infrastructure. nLighten and EXA are portfolio companies of I Squared Capital, a leading independent global infrastructure investor.
nLighten's expanded footprint
By acquiring these seven edge data centers, nLighten's European presence will expand to Belgium, Switzerland and Spain. It also adds sites in existing nLighten markets including Germany, France, the UK and the Netherlands. This expansion brings nLighten's total number of edge data centers to 34 in Europe, including the key business hubs of Amsterdam, London, Paris, Madrid, Geneva, Zurich, and Ghent.
Footprint after the acquisition
- New markets: Belgium, Switzerland and Spain
- Additional sites in Germany, France, the UK and the Netherlands
- 34 edge data centers in Europe in total
- Key business hubs include Amsterdam, London, Paris, Madrid, Geneva, Zurich, and Ghent
The expanded footprint enables nLighten to provide its customers with a new level of support across the continent through a network that ensures low-latency data processing and geographically distributed deployments for optimal business continuity and scalability regardless of their specific applications.
Focus on Customer Empowerment
“The digital landscape is undergoing rapid transformation, particularly as the demand for artificial intelligence continues to soar across industries. This dynamic landscape offers many opportunities for digital infrastructure, but also requires robust and scalable data center solutions. By expanding our European operating base, nLighten customers will benefit from nLighten’s diverse portfolio, including a wide range of colocation, connectivity, and on-site services. This acquisition underscores nLighten's commitment to empowering businesses across Europe with world-class data center solutions and brings us closer to our goal of building and operating a leading European edge data center platform,” said Harro Beusker, co-founder and CEO of nLighten.
“This is the start of an exciting collaboration with our sister company, nLighten, as we each focus on our core competencies to better fulfill our missions. The sale allows EXA Infrastructure to exclusively focus on building and operating the mission critical network infrastructure that enables our customers’ growth.” commented Nick Collins, Chief Commercial Officer at EXA Infrastructure.
About nLighten
nLighten is a digital infrastructure platform of I Squared Capital through its ISQ Global Infrastructure Fund III. We are developing innovative edge data centers distributed across European key economic hubs to provide best-in-class network access to regional, national and global enterprises, private users and the mobile workforce.
With the strategic distribution of its edge data centers, nLighten is working towards a pan-European presence in all major cities, providing customers and partners access to low latency and proximity to end users across Europe. The nLighten edge data centers are designed to meet the increasing demand for faster and more reliable data processing and storage, while also being mindful of environmental impacts.
nLighten was founded in 2021 by a core team with many years of experience and wide-ranging expertise in the data center sector. The team’s main motivation was to create the next step for the data center industry and align edge data centers with the energy transition.
nLighten’s goal is to build and operate the leading pan-European edge data center platform. More information at: https://www.nlighten.eu
About EXA Infrastructure
Headquartered in London, EXA Infrastructure is a portfolio company of I Squared Capital and the largest dedicated digital infrastructure platform connecting Europe and North America. The company owns 151,000 kilometres of fibre network across 34 countries, with sub-sea routes that include six transatlantic cables, one being the lowest latency link between Europe and North America. For more information, see exainfra.net
About I Squared Capital
I Squared Capital is a leading independent global infrastructure investment manager with over $38 billion in assets under management focused on investing in North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Headquartered in Miami, the firm has more than 260 professionals across its offices in London, Munich, New Delhi, São Paulo, Singapore, Sydney and Taipei. I Squared Capital has invested in a diverse portfolio of 82 companies with over 66,000 employees in 71 countries across the utilities, energy, digital infrastructure, transport, environmental infrastructure, and social infrastructure sectors providing essential services to millions of people around the world. You can find out more by visiting: http://www.isquaredcapital.com
