QTS Realty Trust has acquired two data centers in the Netherlands from TCN sig Telehousing BV for $44 million.

The data centers in Groningen and Eemshaven, both northeast of Amsterdam, have a total power capacity of 30MW. One was originally an early Google data center, one of Europe's largest at that time.

$2 million a megawatt

QTS has said that it plans to spend an additional $15m on recommissioning the two facilities, bringing the total cost per MW for the two facilities to $2m.

The Groningen data center operates at 10MW of power over 45,000 square feet of raised floor data center space. Currently, this facility has 20 colocation tenants (many of them government agencies) with an average remaining tenant lease term of 3.5 years.

The company's Eemshaven facility, which is currently vacant, was originally constructed to support a single hyperscale tenant and is capable of 20MW of power over 113,000 square feet (10,500 sq m) of raised floor data center space. Evidence on the Internet (Wikipedia) suggests this was in fact an early Google data center, built in the early 2000s, and decommissioned when the search giant built a newer facility in 2016.

QTS says it is already in preliminary discussions with multiple potential anchor tenants for the facility, which it is upgrading to 35MW of power.

Since opening its newer Eemshaven facility, Google has expanded it with a $950m investment.

Chad Williams, Chairman and CEO of QTS, said: “The European market has experienced a significant rise in demand, with 2018 representing a record year of absorption across the four largest European markets. This acquisition advances our global expansion strategy and provides a platform for future growth internationally at a significantly de-risked entry point.”

In February, QTS entered into a joint venture with Alinda Capital to fund hyperscale projects and infrastructure assets.

The investment firm said that it is willing to contribute up to $500 million in equity capital to QTS over the next five years. In total, the firm could provide up to $1 billion of funding to support QTS’ hyperscale ambitions.