French telecoms firm Orange has sold a stake in its local data centers to investment firm Morrison.

The companies this week announced an exclusivity agreement to create a jointly controlled data center company located in France.

The 50:50 joint venture will be seeded by five of Orange’s data centers in France located across four campuses: Chevilly-Larue, Aubervilliers, Chartres, and Val-de-Reuil.

The companies aim to scale the existing French data center portfolio to 400MW – nearly ten times its current capacity. The €3 billion ($3.4bn) investment program will leverage Orange’s existing assets, Morrison’s equity contribution, and debt.

The deal is expected to close by Q1 2027.

Orange and Orange Business are set to remain major customers of the sites.

Christel Heydemann, Orange group CEO, said: “We are absolutely convinced that France will need sovereign, trusted digital infrastructure if it is to rise to the challenge of surging demand driven by cloud and artificial intelligence. This contemplated joint venture with Morrison, will allow us to unlock the value of our existing assets and strengthen our position in data centers. Together with a partner recognised for its expertise and investment capacity, we will accelerate the deployment of the capacity that the market needs.”

Founded in 1988, New Zealand’s Morrison & Co. is an alternative asset manager focused on infrastructure and property. It owns infrastructure fund Infratil, which has invested in UK data center firm Kao Data. The company has also invested in CDC Data Centers, Vodafone New Zealand, and Dutch fiber firm Fore Freedom.

“Europe’s digital future will require significant new investment in trusted infrastructure capable of supporting the growth of cloud services, artificial intelligence and data-intensive applications,” added William Smales, chief investment officer, Morrison. “Together with Orange, we are contemplating the creation of a platform that combines strategic infrastructure assets, operational expertise and long-term capital to meet that challenge. We believe France is exceptionally well positioned to play a leading role in Europe’s digital economy, and this partnership represents an important step towards building the sovereign infrastructure needed to support future growth and competitiveness.”

News that Orange could be looking to offload its data center footprint in France surfaced in October 2025.

The firm said last year that it would look to scale and open up its data centers to more third parties, in the same way its towers now host hardware from other telecoms providers – saying its objective was “not to sell these assets for cash.”

In March, the CEO of Orange Wholesale, Michaël Trabbia, reaffirmed the company was looking to monetize its assets and not sell off its facilities entirely.

Orange owns around 75 data centers across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Recent years have seen the firm open facilities in Sierra Leone and Morocco. The company recently sold two data centers in Norway to Telenor-backed Skygard.

In 2022, Orange said its 17 legacy data centers in France would be closed and consolidated to its newer facilities by 2030.