Vantage Data Centers is issuing securitized notes to raise funds against its data center development in Cardiff, Wales.
First reported by Real Estate Capital Europe, Barclays Bank this week launched a £600 million ($751m) securitization of two data centers in the Newport area of Cardiff on behalf of Vantage.
This will reportedly be the first European asset-backed securities issuance for a data center.
Barclays is leading the transaction, alongside SMBC Nikko Capital Markets. The loan is against the assets and rental payments of CWL11 and CWL13, two data centers at the former Next Generation Data (NGD) campus.
The two data centers are leased to 62 tenants – though a large portion comes from hyperscale customers – totaling £74.2 million ($92.9m) annually, set to rise to £106.4m ($133.2m) once full fit-out is completed. The largest tenant’s lease has more than eight years remaining, while the second largest customer has more than seven years left on the lease – both have extension options.
Microsoft is understood to be one of the major customers at the site, and recently acquired land nearby.
Vantage acquired the site and NGD in 2020. The campus opened in 2010 on the site of a former LG semi-conductor plant, a property that had stood vacant for more than a decade prior to development.
At full build-out, the 46-acre site will total 2 million sq ft (186,000 sqm) and 148MW across three three-story buildings.
Vantage has raised billions of dollars using securitized funds in the US. The company recently bought a former Ford engine plant in the Bridgend area of Cardiff for a new data center campus.
