Bulk Infrastructure Holding AS, data center operator in the Nordic countries, developer and operator of fiber optic networks and promoter of logistics real estate, announced a newly formed partnership with BentallGreenOak (BGO), a global company Real estate investment manager, as a strategic partner and investor. BentallGreenOak has committed 1.5 billion Norwegian kroner (NOK) (approximately EUR 140 million) to support the future growth of Bulk Infrastructure’s core businesses.
BentallGreenOak joins the main shareholders Bulk Industrier and Geveran to secure capital for the future growth of the company. For this purpose, a series of capital injections will be made from BGO and existing shareholders from January 2021. John Carrafiell, Senior Managing Partner and Co-Founder of BentallGreenOak, has a seat on the Board of Directors of Bulk Infrastructure, and company founder Peder Nærbø and his company Bulk Industrier continue to work actively with the company. Nærbø remains the main investor and remains in office as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Bulk Infrastructure’s capital-intensive investments drive scalable, sustainable solutions in infrastructure and real estate that are expected to have an ongoing positive impact on the environment in the near future.
As part of the partnership with BentallGreenOak, Bulk Infrastructure wants to invest in the further development of its N01 data center campus in southern Norway. With an area of 3 million square kilometers and up to 1 GigaWatt of IT electricity, the N01 campus is to become the world’s largest data center campus that is 100 percent powered by renewable energy. The data center campus provides integral access to the recently completed Havfrue fiber optic cable by Bulk Infrastructure, the first transatlantic submarine cable system to the Nordic countries in almost two decades. This is intended to provide unparalleled connectivity between Northern Europe and the USA.
“ We want to tap the potential of the north and use the renewable energy available here in sustainable digital infrastructure,” said Peder Nærbø, founder of Bulk Infrastructure. “ With a priority international investor like BentallGreenOak in our company, we can grow faster and take advantage of our opportunities to a greater extent. This gives us a great platform to realize our vision of a sustainable infrastructure for a global audience and to serve the largest and most demanding customers in this area, ”added Nærbø.
” This partnership with Bulk Infrastructure is a perfect fit for BGO,” said Senior Managing Partner and co-founder of BentallGreenOak, John Carrafiell. “BGO has been concentrating on the European logistics market since 2013 and considers – as can be seen from the development of Bulk itself – data centers as a logical extension of the company’s real estate investment strategy. Bulk Infrastructure’s commitment to developing the natural benefits of the Nordic region to deliver strong economic and environmental performance in real estate and infrastructure is entirely in line with BGO’s own investment priorities. We are very pleased that we are opening up exciting new avenues on behalf of our investors that offer performance-oriented investment opportunities that also benefit the local economy and maintain a focus on environmentally friendly sustainability. ”
“ This partnership gives us a solid financial platform as Bulk Infrastructure is rich in opportunities across all three businesses. For example, we see opportunities for significant capacity expansions in our three existing campus data centers as well as in other Nordic locations. The combination of reliable and cost-effective access to fully “green” electricity from renewable sources, a cold climate, a stable economic environment and a well-positioned fiber optic network is in a unique position to capture a significant portion of the rapidly growing European and global data center market “said Bulk Infrastructure CEO Jon Gravråk.
Arctic Securities, Pareto Securities, PwC and Schjødt acted as advisors to Bulk Infrastructure on this partnership. BentallGreenOak was advised by Wiersholm and EY.
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