Global Technical Realty and KKR develop first UK data centre campus

Global Technical Realty (GTR), a $1bn European build-to-suit acquisition data center platform, has reached an agreement with SEGRO to develop a data center campus in Slough, UK, to meet demand from high-growth global technology companies. Upon completion, the campus will be the largest in the area with a total IT load of 40.5MW. This represents GTR’s first investment in the UK since the company was launched last year by leading global investment firm KKR and Franek Sodzawiczny, a highly experienced and successful serial entrepreneur in the data center sector who has a focus on delivering leading-edge designs that support sustainability objectives.

The development will be delivered in two phases and is expected to be fully operational in Q4 2022. The campus is located in the UK’s premier data center and communications hub, home to 90% of current London data center demand. The site will comprise of three independent data centers capable of operating individually, or as one interlinked campus, designed and developed by SEGRO to GTR’s specifications. Each building will accommodate over 5,375sqm of net technical area and 13.5 MW IT load. It is expected the project will create 200 jobs during construction, plus a further 80 permanent roles on completion.

GTR was launched to design, build and operate bespoke data centers across Europe for large technology clients, meeting growing demand for third-party data center provision amid ever-increasing growth in data usage and cloud services adoption. Franek Sodzawiczny, Co-Founder and Chief Executive of GTR, previously founded Zenium Data Centers, then acquired by Equinix and CyrusOne Inc. In Europe, GTR also has a further capacity of 94MW of power under development across further Tier 1 and Tier 2 markets and expects to open its first data center in Latin America next year, with another location in the Middle East also planned. KKR’s original investment in GTR was made primarily from its third global infrastructure fund.

“We are excited to be back in the UK alongside our partner KKR and look forward to working closely with SEGRO to deliver this state-of-the-art data center campus,” said Sodzawiczny. “The data center sector moves at an impressive pace. GTR brings both the technical expertise and industry experience to manage the design and build phase of this project seamlessly to meet clear customer demand for bespoke capability.”

Andrew Peisch, Director at KKR said: “We are pleased to partner with GTR in developing our first UK data center campus. We welcome this opportunity to play a role in supporting the UK as it continues to upgrade its digital infrastructure to meet the evolving needs of the digital economy. At a time when longer term sustainability in data center development is a critical consideration, sophisticated design plays an increasingly important role and we have every confidence that the GTR team is well positioned to deliver.”

The GTR leadership team brings together a range of skills and experience by combining sector knowledge, real estate, corporate finance and deep technical expertise. Joining Sodzawiczny in the GTR leadership team is Martin Carroll, formerly Lead Director, EMEA Data Center Advisory at JLL; Mark Trevor, formerly Partner and Head of EMEA Data Center Transaction and Advisory at Cushman & Wakefield, Tom Sodzawiczny, formerly Associate Director of Capital Markets at Colliers International, and Richard Rowson, formerly CFO at Global Switch and VP Finance at Interxion.