Algorithmic trading firm XTX Markets has signed an agreement with YIT Corporation for the construction of a second data center at XTX's campus in Kajaani, Finland.

YIT will construct the shell and core of the data center, having previously worked with XTX on the latter's first data center at the site.

The value of the deal has not been shared.

However, while an agreement has been signed, there remains some uncertainty about the continued growth of the campus.

Speaking on this, Mike Irwin, COO at XTX Markets, said: “We are pleased to move forward to the next phase of our data center development with YIT, as construction begins on the shell and core of our second facility in Kajaani. This milestone reflects both the strength of our partnership and the successful progress of our broader data center strategy.

"However, our longer-term investment roadmap remains under review due to the proposed changes in electricity taxation. We hope that increased clarity and certainty on this matter will enable us to confidently proceed with future phases and further deepen our collaboration with multiple Finnish partners, including YIT.” 

Aleksi Laine, EVP of YIT’s Infrastructure segment, added:  “We are very pleased to continue our collaboration with XTX Markets. The first data center project has progressed smoothly, showcasing our strong project management capabilities and technical expertise. YIT has extensive experience in delivering large-scale industrial construction projects across Finland.”

YIT is a construction and development company that works on a variety of projects, including residential houses, public and commercial buildings, and infrastructure. The company aims to develop sustainable structures.

Plans for the data center campus in Kajaani were unveiled in January of this year. At the time, XTX said it would invest more than €1 billion ($1.16bn) in developing the site with a planned completion date of 2026 for the first data center. Eventually, it said it hoped to build a further four data centers at the site.

The first data center spans 15,000 sqm (161,458 sq ft) and offers 22.5MW of IT capacity. Within this, XTX hosts hardware to support its machine learning technology, which it uses for trades. The data center is XTX's first self-owned large-scale facility.

Algorithmic trading is a type of "high frequency trading" that relies on speed and latency as part of its strategy. Typically, this would see traders hosting their equipment as close to the stock exchange as possible; however, XTX says that the compute will be used to "analyse vast amounts of data and produce price forecasts for financial instruments across the globe."

DCD has reached out to clarify if XTX's strategy will see it maintaining a data center presence elsewhere to leverage low-latency offerings.

Kajaani is located in the center of Finland. The Renforsin Ranta Business Park is town is home to the XTX data center, as well as the country's LUMI supercomputer, and a facility owned by Iceland's Borealis.

Google is also set to develop a data center in the area.

DCD has previously done a deep dive into the digital infrastructure needs of high-frequency trading. You can read it here