Real estate investment management firm BentallGreenOak (BGO) has launched its own data center platform, led by the former CEO of Yondr.

The company this week announced the launch of BGO DataCenters, a dedicated real estate investment and development platform focused on developing data centers.

Focused on delivering “customized sustainable, hyperscale, and AI-optimized digital infrastructure,” the new company claims a European pipeline exceeding 1.2GW of capacity, focused on Tier 1 and 2 markets.

Specific details on any planned projects haven’t been shared. On its website, BGO said it is “active” in the UK, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands.

“The launch of BGO DataCenters marks a major milestone in our strategy to scale into the digital future,” said John Carrafiell, co-CEO of BGO. “We’ve backed an elite team with high-conviction capital, serious scale, local expertise in key markets, and the global research edge to lead in one of real estate’s fastest-growing sectors.”

“BGO DataCenters is purpose-built to meet the speed, scale, and reliability that hyperscalers demand. Our team has delivered hundreds of megawatts to support our customers’ rapid growth, and we know what it takes to execute at pace and at scale. With BGO’s backing, we are entering key European markets with conviction, momentum, and the flexibility to deliver custom, high-performance solutions that grow with our clients,” added Dave Newitt, CEO, and Dharman Sury, CFO, BGO DataCenters.

After more than seven years at construction firm ISG, Newitt was CEO of data center developer Yondr from 2019 to 2023. He was replaced by Paul Cossell, who was swapped out for Sandip Mahajan this month in the wake of Yondr’s acquisition by Digitalbridge.

Sury was previously head of data center development at Brookfield Asset Management and has held roles at Data4 and Orange.

BGO is a global real estate investment management advisor with some $86bn in assets under management. The firm is part of SLC Management, the institutional alternatives and traditional asset management business of Sun Life.

BGO is an investor in Nordic data center firm Bulk, and previously acquired two IBM data centers in Canada from the company in a sale-leaseback deal.