Sustainable Norwegian colocation firm Green Mountain expands to the UK with Infinity SDC buyout

Norway-based sustainable colocation provider Green Mountain is expanding into the UK through the acquisition of Infinity SDC’s last remaining datacentre in Romford, Essex.

As previously reported by Computer Weekly, Infinity SDC began winding down the number of datacentres in its portfolio back in December 2015, by selling off its shared services facility in Slough to fellow colocation provider Virtus.

In March 2017, the company confirmed it had divested its Stockley Park site in West London, and this news was followed up in August 2018 by the announcement that Infinity SDC had sold off its Here East datacentre, located in the former London Olympic Park.

At the time, the Olympic Park sell-off was billed as a means of raising funds to finance the further development of its two datacentres in Romford.

In a statement announcing the acquisition, Green Mountain’s parent company, Israeli public real estate investment firm Azrieli Group, said it had agreed to acquire the datacentre and a piece of adjacent land with a view to using that to expand the existing facility further.

The site will also be upgraded to meet Green Mountain’s “strict sustainability standards”, confirmed the statement, although it is already 100% renewably powered.

“With the use of secured green power, [the] site is capable of supporting up to 40MW of IT load and already has several strong UK enterprises as core tenants,” the statement confirmed.

In Norway, the company has previously made a name for itself by reusing the waste heat generated by its datacentres to heat nearby businesses, including lobster and trout farms, and Green Mountain CEO Tor Kristian Gyland said the firm’s expansion to the UK is long overdue.

“London is an extremely important datacentre hub and a must-have location for many international companies,” he said. “With this expansion, we can offer a broader portfolio of sites with immediately available green power, and serve clients who have capacity requirements or need to remain in the London area while still achieving their sustainability targets. This is a long-awaited request from both our current and prospective clients.”

Stuart Sutton, CEO of Infinity SDC, said the deal looks set to benefit the firm’s customers and help them meet their IT sustainability targets.

“I am delighted that the Infinity Team and our East London Campus will become part of the highly successful Green Mountain business,” he said. “It will accelerate the sustainable development of this key London location with immediate benefits for our customers and staff.”

Green Mountain chief operating officer Truls Dishington added: “The experienced and competent workforce at the sites will complement the Green Mountain organisation well. We look forward to merging these two work cultures, where operational excellence is at the heart of both businesses.”

Aszrieli Group CEO Danna Azrieli said the company is “confident” the arrival of Green Mountain in the UK will “set a new standard for sustainable colocation services in the UK”.

“Our vision is to gradually expand our footprint in several international markets, and London is an ideal location to continue building our datacentre strategy,” she added.