Principal European data centre fund buys Barcelona asset for €22.6m

Principal European data centre fund buys Barcelona asset for €22.6m

Principal Real Estate’s Principal European Data Centre Fund I has made its first investment by acquiring a 6 mega-volt ampere (MVA), 10,502 square metre data centre in Barcelona, Spain for €22.6 million.

Principal said the asset, leased to AtlasEdge until August 2033, is located in a rapidly growing data centre market, servicing the large metropolitan area of Barcelona.

Principal also recently completed the second capital raise for the fund, bringing total equity investments to €205 million.

The second capital raise for the fund closed at the end of June and added an additional €50 million of equity to the Fund, bringing the total amount of equity raised to €205 million.

Paul Lewis, director of European data centres, Principal Real Estate, comments: “With the launch of the European Data Centre Fund earlier this year, securing the fund’s first acquisition is a major milestone. The off-market acquisition of the AtlasEdge data centre in Barcelona provides our Fund with an asset let on a triple net lease to a first-rate and rapidly growing operator in a key city which is experiencing substantial growth of demand for data centre services. With the second close reaching €205 million, we believe we are in a strong position to achieve our goals for the final close and to continue executing on our acquisition plans across Europe.”

The fund continues to focus on manage-to-core data centre assets. At least 60% of the fund will be allocated to the core European markets of Germany, Netherlands, France, United Kingdom, and Ireland, with up to 40% in other European markets such as Spain, Italy, and Switzerland.