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Principal Asset Management, through its dedicated real estate investment team, has announced that it executed on 11 August the final close of its closed-end fund dedicated to acquiring data centre assets in Europe.
The capital raise for the Principal European Data Centre Fund (the Fund) reached €297 million. Subscriptions were received from 14 investors, including wealth managers, pension funds, and insurance companies located in Germany, France, Spain, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, and the U.S..
The Fund focuses on manage-to-core data centre assets. At least 60% of the fund is allocated to the core European markets of Germany, Netherlands, France, United Kingdom, and Ireland, with up to 40% in secondary markets such as Spain, Italy, and Switzerland.
To date, the Fund has acquired 5 assets, located in Barcelona; the UK; Amsterdam; Dublin and Frankfurt.
Principal Real Estate has global expertise investing in data centres and closed its first closed-end data centre fund in the United States in June 2021, which was oversubscribed at €471.4 million. Since entering the data centre market in 2007, Principal Real Estate has committed over €1.75 billion in data centre acquisitions and developments and owns more than €1.18 billion in data center REITs1.
Sebastian Dooley, senior fund manager, Principal Asset Management, comments:
“Given the highly specialized and niche nature of the data center industry, we believe experience and access are critical to successful execution. As an active commercial real estate investor for more than 60 years2 — including more than 14 years in the data center sector—we have witnessed the asset class evolve and adapt to the changing needs. We believe this final close solidifies our strong position as we continue our acquisition plans across Europe. Data centers present a unique opportunity for real estate investors. With growth and defensive attributes, the data center industry has proven resilient in both economic downturns and periods of economic expansion.”
