European data center firm, Penta Infra has appointed Bob Sprengers as CEO.

The company and lead investor Photon Capital announced the leadership change this week, and will take effect from March 2024.

Sprengers takes over from Alex Bakker, who led the company since it was founded in 2015. Moving forward, Bakker will continue as managing partner at Photon Capital and chairman of the Penta Infra board.

“The time has come for Penta Infra to chart its own course in the European data center market, and we believe Bob is the perfect choice to lead the team on that journey,” said outgoing CEO Bakker. “He has an exceptional track record in global telecoms and tech leadership, particularly with PE investors, and he has a very talented and experienced senior team. Photon’s focus is on building a range of robust platforms across the digital economy, and I look forward to supporting Penta Infra all the way as it becomes an established leader in the sector.”

Sprengers was previously CEO of Digicel Group, leaving the role in July 2023. He has also previously held roles at Mediq, CarNext.com, Lazada, and Heineken.

“I am delighted to be taking on this new role and look forward to driving Penta Infra’s international growth,” said Sprengers. “Now is a hugely exciting time to be building out data center infrastructure in Europe, and Penta Infra has the team, portfolio and backers to be a stand-out leader in both Edge and core markets. Our growth strategy is clear, and our key concern will continue to be providing reliability, security, connectivity, and sustainable scalability to our customers as they innovate and grow their digital businesses.”

Penta owns and operates 12 data centers across the Netherlands (Amsterdam, Leeuwarden, Geleen), Germany (Frankfurt, Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig, Düsseldorf, Cologne), France (Paris) and Denmark (Copenhagen).