Antin Infrastructure Partners (Paris:ANTIN) has agreed to acquire NorthC Datacenters, a leading enterprise colocation data centre platform in Northwest Europe, from DWS and other minority shareholders. The transaction is being carried out through Antin’s Flagship Fund V.
Based in Amsterdam, NorthC operates 25 colocation data centres across major metropolitan areas in the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland. The platform has more than 140 MW of secured gross grid capacity from existing and greenfield sites to support future growth.
NorthC was formed in 2019 through the combination of two Dutch data centre operators and has rapidly become a major European player. Under the leadership of CEO Alexandra Schless, the company has expanded into Germany and Switzerland, delivering sustained organic growth supported by greenfield developments and bolt-on acquisitions, including, most recently, six data centres in Germany and the Netherlands.
NorthC serves more than 1,600 blue-chip customers across cloud and IT service providers, carriers, public sector and financial institutions, industry, transport and the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors. The company is well positioned to continue growing, benefitting from strong, long-term market demand for high-quality colocation solutions, underpinned by continued IT outsourcing, cloud adoption, increasing data sovereignty requirements and rapidly growing AI workloads.
Antin has a long track record of investing in and scaling critical digital infrastructure platforms across Europe. This includes notably Pulsant, a leading regional enterprise colocation data centre platform in the UK, as well as various connectivity and communications infrastructure platforms in fibre and towers. The acquisition of NorthC builds on this expertise and further strengthens Antin’s position as a partner of choice for high-growth digital infrastructure businesses across the continent.
Upon closing, this investment will mark the sixth by Antin’s €10.2 billion Flagship Fund V. Antin’s Flagship strategy targets sizeable investments in established infrastructure companies across Europe and North America in the energy and environment, digital, transport and social sectors, following a value-add investment approach to grow and transform infrastructure businesses. Antin will invest alongside Alexandra Schless and the management team, who bring deep sector expertise and a proven track record of delivering growth.
Stéphane Ifker and Maximilian Lindner, respectively Managing Partner and Partner at Antin Infrastructure Partners, commented: “We have a strong conviction on the growth potential for colocation data centres, and NorthC is the leading operator in this space in Europe. 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. We look forward to supporting Alexandra and the team to achieve the next phase of NorthC’s growth.”
Harold D’Hauteville, Partner of DWS Infrastructure, added: “We are thrilled to have had the opportunity to create and grow NorthC with its incredible management team over the past six years. NorthC’s consistent focus on providing high quality colocation services to its clients across the Benelux and DACH region has established the business as a regional leader. We see strong growth potential in the enterprise colocation sector, as essential infrastructure required to enable the digital transformation and AI. We have no doubt that the management will continue to scale the business to reach new heights under its new ownership in the years to come.”
Alexandra Schless, CEO of NorthC, stated:“We are grateful to DWS for its support over the past years, and are delighted to work alongside Antin to continue taking the company forward. Antin’s direct experience of colocation data centres and knowledge of the enterprise end-customer market will be strong assets to help us seize the many growth opportunities that lie ahead.”
The transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close in H1 2026.
NorthC was advised by Evercore and Torch Partners as financial advisers and Latham & Watkins as legal adviser. Antin was advised by Guggenheim Securities as financial adviser and Clifford Chance and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett as legal advisers.