The acquisition by D9 is expected to help the company expedite its growth and address its customers' current and future needs
D9 acquires Verne Global, an Icelandic data centre platform. (Credit: Verne Global)
Verne Global, an Icelandic data centre platform, has been acquired by UK-based investment trust Digital 9 Infrastructure (D9) in an all-cash deal worth around £231m.
Founded in 2012, Verne Global is said to offer sustainable data centre solutions in a geographically optimal environment. The company’s data centre platform is 100% powered by local renewable sources such as hydroelectric and geothermal.
Some of the most innovative and demanding industries are said to be powered by the Icelandic data centre campus. These include financial services, life sciences, earth sciences, scientific research, and engineering.
The 40-acre data centre campus helps organisations run high intensity compute workloads that include artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, high-performance computing (HPC), and supercomputing.
Verne Global CEO Dominic Ward said: “We are experiencing rapid growth and demand for sustainable high intensity compute solutions. Our customers are growing fast and have a stronger focus than ever on sustainability.
“Acquisition by D9 enables us to accelerate our growth and respond to our customers’ needs now and in the future. What Verne Global has achieved over the last decade is a fantastic accomplishment and this acquisition is a great acknowledgement of the exceptional team that we have.”
D9 is a newly established externally managed investment trust, engaged in offering resilient digital infrastructures that are integrated with green and cleaner power. The investment manager of D9 is Triple Point Investment Management.
Triple Point digital infrastructure head Thor Johnsen said: “Verne Global’s existing Icelandic based data centre assets represent some of the cleanest, lowest carbon footprint data centres, globally. This is another key step to support decarbonising the data centre industry.
“For society to meet key decarbonisation goals, we need to look for ways to shift energy consumptive activities to areas of surplus renewable energy. The digital infrastructure industry has an increasing energy footprint, particularly data centres, which need to become more energy-efficient and green.”
For D9, Verne Global follows the company’s subsea investment in Aqua Comms DAC in April 2021.
The investment trust is pursuing additional fibre network opportunities to boost connectivity into the Nordics. Triple Point has identified six more data centre investments for D9 with a total value of around £200m.
In July this year, D9 obtained exclusivity regarding the acquisition of a metro data centre in the UK. Triple Point is said to be in advanced negotiations on the acquisition, which if executed could close by 31 October 2021.