Investment firm Asterion Industrial Partners has acquired Altice Portugal’s flagship data center.

The European mid-market infrastructure-focused investment firm this week announced its entry into the Portuguese data center market with the acquisition of the Covilhã data center campus from Altice Portugal.

The €120 million ($140m) transaction, structured as a carve-out, is being executed through Asterion Infrastructure Fund III. The deal is expected to close in Q1 2026.

The Covilhã campus currently offers 6.8MW of installed capacity. The data center can accommodate up to 75MW of additional capacity within the existing campus, with potential reach 175MW on adjacent land with power already secured.

Originally constructed by Portugal Telecom, the 75,500 sqm (813,000 sq ft) Covilhã facility offers 12,000 sqm (129,000 sq ft) of colocation space across 24 data halls; capacity enough for more than 50,000 servers. Opened in 2013 and expanded in 2018, it is certified Tier III by Uptime.

A moat surrounds the data center, which is shaped like a cube, to give the illusion it is floating on the water and helps create a cooler microclimate. The moat is fed by a rainwater collection system, while the site includes an on-site photovoltaic solar power generation and a garden with more than 600 trees.

Portugal Telecom was acquired by Altice in 2014 from Oi for around €5.79 billion ($6.71bn). Today, Altice Portugal operates five data centers in the country totaling 17,000 sqm (183,000 sq ft). Altice Portugal also operates two cable landing stations in Sesimbra and Carcavelos, and two teleports in Covilhã and Sintra.

Reports that the telco was looking to sell off the Covilhã facility first surfaced in December 2022 and have continued over the years.

Asterion previously founded Nabiax, Latin American and Iberian data center operator. Asterion Industrial Partners created Nabiax in 2019 through the acquisition of 11 data centers from Telefónica. Telefónica then contributed three additional assets in exchange for a 20 percent stake in the operator in 2021.

Nabiax sold its 11 data centers in Latin America to Actis in 2023, and Asterion sold the rest of the company to Keppel-linked European asset management company Aermont last year.