NextStream has appointed Serafim Abreu Jr as its new CEO.

As announced in a recent LinkedIn post, the operator has brought in the former Scala CFO to expand its Latin American operations.

Abreu Jr succeeds Jorge Abadia Pozuelo, who is moving into a new role as a board member of NextStream.

“I’m honored to lead NextStream in this exciting phase. With a talented team, strong regional presence, and solid support from investors, we’re ready to meet the growing market demands and contribute to sustainable digital infrastructure in Latin America,” said Abreu Jr.

He told BNAmericas that in the company’s “first wave” of growth, it plans on serving hyperscalers in Latin America, helping them to establish public clouds and availability zones.

To do this, NextStream will build new data center facilities, with higher densities and up-to-date cooling technologies.

In the “second wave,” Abreu Jr said NextStream will address the demand for artificial intelligence and machine learning.

He added that the region has good access to clean and cheap energy, with Brazil also having access to submarine cables.

Abreu said NextStream has already signed with a hyperscaler for a data center in Mexico, but declined to name the client. It is intended to be delivered by January next year.

As well as working at Scala, Abreu Jr has also worked at IBM for more than 20 years, serving as vice president and chief operations officer in Latin America between 2019 and 2021.

NextStream was created in 2023 when British investment firm Actis acquired 11 data center facilities in Latin America and the US from Nabiax. The unit now operates as NextStream. The facilities had originally been built by Telefonica and were acquired by Nabiax in 2019.

Nabiax was acquired by Aermont from Asterion and Telefonica in November last year.