Serverfarm, a global data centre developer and operator, has acquired two Houston, Texas data centre campuses which are positioned to deliver near-term capacity to the market through sustainable modernisation of pre-existing buildings.
The acquisition marks the company’s entry into the Texas market expanding its colocation capabilities across the US.
The transaction was funded with equity commitments from Manulife Investment Management (on behalf of Manulife Infrastructure Fund II, Manulife Infrastructure Fund III and its affiliates), Serverfarm’s majority shareholder and other minority shareholders. The Seller was exclusively advised by CBRE Data Center Capital Markets.
Through Serverfarm’s expertise in adaptive reuse, infrastructure modernisation and sustainable redevelopment, HOU1 and HOU2 will rapidly scale to address the underserved, high-demand Houston market with hyperscale data centre capacity.
The first phase of one campus is pre-leased to a large customer, with both campuses attracting intense interest from hyperscalers and other technology companies.
“Serverfarm’s innovative approach to providing near-term capacity directly addresses hyperscale customer requirements in a sustainable, future-proof manner,” said Avner Papouchado, CEO, Serverfarm. “Our entry into Houston is our largest data centre investment to date, demonstrating our continued focus on serving our customers’ needs.”
Houston ranks as the 7th largest US metro economy, home to 7.3 million people and boasts a GDP of over US$630 billion. Thanks to its central location, skilled workforce, energy infrastructure and business-friendly regulations and tax environment, Houston and the broader Texas area is a leader in digital and energy transformation.
Serverfarm’s HOU1 data centre facility has a current capacity of 350,000 square feet with line-of-sight of 410MW of customer capacity. The HOU2 data centre campus spans across nearly half a million square feet in two buildings with secured customer capacity to scale to 100MW using available, existing grid power.
Serverfarm’s phased development plan for the sites is focused on maximising capacity within the existing data centre building shells prior to future expansion.
The sites have a combined acreage of 250 acres and both campuses have on-site substations with unused available capacity uniquely positioning Serverfarm to serve the Houston metro at a scale previously unseen.
“This acquisition represents a transformational opportunity for Serverfarm and demonstrates its strong development capabilities and ability to provide speed-to-market to hyperscale customers in prime metro locations” said Recep Kendircioglu, Global Head of Infrastructure, Manulife Investment Management.
“We are strongly supportive of opportunities that strengthen the market position of our portfolio companies and excited about the acquisition of these two data centres enhancing Serverfarm’s presence in the US,” added Kendircioglu.
