The growth outlook for data centers is unmistakable. While digitization, smartphones, streaming services, and video calls have all contributed to growth in recent history, the industry is now grappling with the new opportunity set to skyrocket demand for data distribution and storage. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the new gold rush.
The business of AI is expected to grow tenfold between now and 2030, and as data usage grows, so too will the need for data centers. It is no wonder the industry is attracting the attention of private equity of all kinds. Last year, 90 percent of mergers and acquisitions were funded by PE firms backed by private investors.
The industry is responding to the opportunity. Hyperscalers are aggressively expanding their operations, as are enterprise and colocation operators, and a flurry of new players are entering markets around the globe. But even the biggest operators can’t keep pace with the demand, and the opportunity to invest in safe havens is too much for external investors to resist. Vantage’s 2.5 billion GBP partnership with a consortium of investors, which was finalized in November, is just one example of the extraordinary growth opportunity the industry is facing. The additional funds secured will allow Vantage to build another six data centers in Europe, which will add 1.8 million gross square feet and 177MW of IT capacity. All of them are being built to cater for new technologies like AI, high-performance computing, and machine learning.
