Scottish-based data centre specialist poised for further growth
In a landmark deal for the UK data centre market, specialist operator Asanti Datacentres Limited announces today (24th November 2022) that it has acquired five UK data centres from Daisy Group, one of the country’s largest communications and IT services providers.
Asanti was recently acquired by Invesis, the global investor and developer of infrastructure projects. Invesis has committed to providing additional funding that will enable Asanti to secure further acquisitions and develop new-build data centres in the UK and Europe.
Daisy Group’s data centre professionals have joined Asanti, headquartered in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, as part of the acquisition.
The Daisy Group data centres included in today’s announcement are located in:
- Hamilton
- Birstall
- Manchester
- Reading
- Farnborough
Together, the Daisy data centres have a capacity of over 1,500 racks strategically located across the UK, providing clients with minimal data latency. The data centres are strategically located with each offering a nearby location to provide disaster recovery systems, offering business continuity to their clients. The Hamilton data centre is located close to Asanti’s existing data centre resource in Livingston. All the data centres are connected to a single national Mesh network with a connection speed of over 100GB per second.
Daisy will remain the service provider and will become a client of Asanti. Daisy’s customers will continue to be hosted in the data centres, and their services will remain unchanged.
Stewart Laing, CEO of Asanti, who has more than 20 years of experience leading and developing data centres, said: “Today’s news confirms Asanti’s objective of driving change in the UK data centre market by providing data centre colocation and services with a specific focus on providing efficient Regional Edge data centre facilities. Our aim is to provide state-of-the-art technology, with a short-term objective of utilising 100% renewable energy, and maintaining competitive solutions in the market. This demonstrates our strong commitment to working with clients to help them achieve financial, technical, and sustainability targets.
“Most organisations have deployed, or are looking to deploy, a hybrid data centre model – a mix of legacy and private and public cloud infrastructures. Companies currently using, or looking to use, colocation data centre facilities now have a better option with access to Asanti’s Regional Edge data centres.
“Asanti is committed to offering the best service, innovation, and environmental solutions available in the Regional Edge data centre industry today.”
Chris Williams, Invesis CEO, said: “Data centre infrastructure is fundamentally important to many organisations, and the Asanti team has a clear vision of its role in this market, both now and in the future. That’s why we’re backing them. We see this as an important step towards a major involvement for Invesis in this important area of infrastructure.”
Tom Glover, EMEA Head of Data Centre Transactions, JLL, who advised on the investment, commented: “Capital investments have been the focus of several data centre deals, and with a scarcity of opportunities, investors are having to get more creative in their deployment of capital.
“We’re delighted to have supported this transaction, which provides exposure to this rapidly growing and resilient market. With the significant upturn in demand for Regional Edge data centres, this astute investment in Asanti provides Invesis with an immediate presence within the UK’s Regional Edge data centre market.”
Last year, global data centre investment reached US $47.1 billion, up from US $34.5 billion in 2020. In Europe, investment in 2021 was five times higher than its five-year average, according to JLL.
Steve Langmead, CEO of Commsworld, provider of the largest, privately-funded Optical Core Network in the UK, said: “The Asanti team has the ambition and capability to enhance the development of the UK data centre sector. I am confident that this deal will provide a strong strategic platform from which Asanti can further develop its business.
“We look forward to partnering with Asanti as we, collectively, strive to excel in delivering our customers’ data handling needs.”
Welcoming the move, Ivan McKee MSP, Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise, said: “The Scottish Government is helping grow Scotland’s green data centre market sustainably, in partnership with public sector organisations like Host in Scotland and in line with goals in the National Strategy for Economic Transformation.
“This is a clear signal to the market that we have businesses with the ambition and capability to develop the sector, a key objective of the Scottish Government’s Green Datacentres and Digital Connectivity: Vision and Action Plan for Scotland.”