Belgian operator Datacenter United (DCU) has secured a new financing package.
The company, recently acquired by Cordiant Digital Infrastructure and TINC, raised a five-year senior financing package of €120 million ($140m) from a consortium of banks comprising DNB, Belfius Bank, and NIBC Bank.
The new facilities comprise a drawn term loan of €50 million ($58.73m) to refinance existing senior debt of €10 million ($11.75m) and repay shareholder loans of €40 million ($46.99m); an undrawn capex facility of €50 million to fund DCU’s expansion plans through growth capex and bolt-on acquisitions; and a revolving credit facility and ancillary facilities totalling €20 million ($23.49m) for working capital and other general corporate purposes. An additional €50 million of capacity may be added via an accordion facility.
“Companies in Belgium and beyond count on us to support their digital future in a secure and sustainable manner,” said Friso Haringsma, CEO of Datacenter United. “Thanks to this funding, we are building an infrastructure that is not only reliable and scalable, but also designed to support future AI applications.”
The company said capacity is being “significantly expanded” in Antwerp, Brussels, Zaventem, Ghent, Oostkamp, Mouscron, and Hasselt, with sites being prepared for high-density racks and AI-capable applications.
As a result of the repayment of shareholder loans, Cordiant will receive a cash distribution of €15 million ($17.62m) for its 37.4 percent stake in DCU, which will be used primarily to repay part of the investment firm’s revolving credit facility at the holding company level. TINC, meanwhile, will receive €19 million ($22.32m) for its 47.5 percent stake in DCU, which will be used to repay part of the firm’s €200 million ($234.94m) committed revolving credit facility.
Steven Marshall, executive chairman of Cordiant Digital Infrastructure Management, said: “We are delighted with the strong support shown by both international and local lenders in this refinancing, which attracted significant interest from the banking market. The new facilities provide Datacenter United with a flexible, long-term capital structure to support its ambitious growth and acquisition plans. This transaction demonstrates both the strength of DCU’s operating platform and the robustness of the underlying European data center market, where secular growth trends underpin demand.”
Datacenter United, founded in 2010, currently operates 14 data centers across 12 locations in Belgium. TINC acquired a 75 percent equity interest in Datacenter United in 2020, with Cordiant taking a stake in the firm last year.
Belgian telco Proximus sold its data centers to DCU in October 2024, adding four facilities to the latter’s portfolio. In total, DCU’s facilities total 13MW of IT power, with the potential to expand by another 11.1MW across existing locations.
DCU said “several million euros” are being allocated to sustainability projects, including solar panels and new cooling systems that improve energy efficiency, heat reuse projects in Antwerp, Evere, and Machelen, and e-waste recycling and reuse.
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