Antin Infrastructure Partners is set to make one of Europe’s most significant data center acquisitions of the year, announcing that it will acquire NorthC Datacenters, a fast-growing enterprise colocation platform operating across the Netherlands, Germany, and Switzerland.
The deal, conducted through Antin’s €10.2 billion Flagship Fund V, positions the private equity firm to deepen its footprint in digital infrastructure amid accelerating demand for high-quality colocation capacity and AI-ready facilities.
NorthC, headquartered in Amsterdam, has grown into one of Northwest Europe’s most prominent regional colocation providers since its formation in 2019 through the merger of two Dutch operators. Under CEO Alexandra Schless, the company has scaled through a mix of greenfield development and strategic acquisitions, most recently adding six additional sites across Germany and the Netherlands.
– story continues below the photo –
Today the NorthC platform operates 25 data centers and serves more than 1,600 customers, including cloud service providers, telecom carriers, public-sector institutions, industrial organizations, and healthcare and pharmaceutical companies. Its ecosystem supports mission-critical workloads for enterprises increasingly focused on hybrid cloud deployments, data sovereignty, and rapidly rising AI computing demands.
NorthC’s existing and planned facilities represent more than 140 MW of secured gross grid capacity, giving the company headroom to respond to expanding regional digital infrastructure requirements. In markets such as the Netherlands and Germany – where energy constraints, local regulations, and sovereign data considerations shape the competitive landscape – an operator with established power capacity and a distributed regional footprint has become increasingly attractive to investors.
For Antin, the transaction adds another major asset to a portfolio that already includes Pulsant, a leading UK enterprise data center provider, as well as multiple investments across connectivity, fiber, and tower infrastructure. The firm has pursued a value-add strategy focused on companies positioned to scale in response to accelerating enterprise digitalization and cloud adoption. Antin said NorthC fits directly into this mandate by combining local-market specialization with strong growth prospects and a customer mix aligned with long-term, recurring infrastructure demand.
Operational Experience in Data Centers
In a joint statement, Stéphane Ifker and Maximilian Lindner of Antin Infrastructure Partners said the acquisition reflects deep conviction in the growth trajectory of European colocation. They emphasized that NorthC is “well positioned to accelerate its expansion and consolidate its leadership in a fast-growing and increasingly strategic segment of the digital infrastructure market,” noting that the firm intends to support Schless and her team through the next phase of development.
For current owner DWS, the transaction marks the exit of an investment that began six years ago and helped shape NorthC into a multi-country platform. DWS Infrastructure partner Harold D’Hauteville said the company’s emphasis on service quality and regional specialization enabled it to become a strong contender in the Benelux and DACH markets. He pointed to AI adoption and enterprise digital transformation as forces that will continue to drive colocation growth, adding confidence that NorthC will scale further under Antin’s ownership.
Schless welcomed the partnership, emphasizing Antin’s operational experience in data centers and its familiarity with enterprise customers. That expertise, she said, will be critical as the company navigates rising demand for high-density deployments, sustainability-driven requirements, and increasingly complex regulatory and data sovereignty environments across Europe.
The acquisition remains subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the first half of 2026. The process is supported by a slate of financial and legal advisers, including Evercore, Torch Partners, Latham & Watkins, Guggenheim Securities, Clifford Chance, and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett.
For Antin, the deal reinforces its strategy of pursuing foundational digital infrastructure assets at a time when data center capacity is becoming a defining constraint for cloud, AI, and enterprise IT strategy. For NorthC, it sets the stage for deeper European expansion in an industry where localized presence – combined with scalable power, sustainability initiatives, and high-density technical capabilities – has become a competitive differentiator.
Executive Insights FAQ
Why is Antin acquiring NorthC now?Rising AI-driven compute demand, increased data sovereignty requirements, and accelerating enterprise cloud adoption have made regional colocation platforms more strategically valuable.
How does NorthC differentiate itself in the European market?
Its model emphasizes strong local presence, regional ecosystems, tailored hybrid-cloud and connectivity solutions, and secured grid capacity across 25 distributed sites.
What does the acquisition mean for NorthC’s expansion plans?
With new financial backing and operational guidance, the company is expected to accelerate its growth through greenfield developments and further acquisitions.
How does this deal fit within broader digital infrastructure investment trends?
Data centers remain one of the fastest-growing infrastructure segments globally as enterprises outsource more workloads and AI models require large-scale power-dense environments.
What should customers expect post-acquisition?
Continuity in operations, strengthened investment in capacity and services, and expanded regional availability as Antin supports long-term infrastructure growth.
