CPP Investments, Equinix Team Up on $4B Nordic Data Center Bet

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Equinix, Inc. have agreed to acquire Nordic data center platform atNorth from Partners Group in a transaction valued at approximately $4 billion. 

CPP Investments will commit roughly $1.6 billion for a 60% controlling stake, with Equinix holding 40%. The deal is expected to be immediately accretive to Equinix’s adjusted funds from operations per share. The partners have also provisionally secured a $4.2 billion financing package to fund the acquisition and support expansion. 

Headquartered in Reykjavík, Iceland, atNorth operates eight data centers across Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, with an 800 MW development pipeline expected online over the next five years and an additional 1 GW of secured power capacity. Several facilities are liquid-cooling enabled to support AI and high-performance computing workloads, with renewable energy sourcing and heat-reuse initiatives embedded across the portfolio. 

“This acquisition is a powerful validation of atNorth’s journey and its market position as the leading Nordics data center platform,” said Eyjólfur Magnús Kristinsson, CEO of atNorth, noting the investment will provide access to capital, hyperscale relationships and supply-chain strength to scale rapidly. 

Maximilian Biagosch of CPP Investments said the deal reinforces conviction in the data center sector as enterprise, cloud and AI demand accelerates. Bruce Owen, President, EMEA at Equinix, added that atNorth’s scalable sites complement Equinix’s global connectivity footprint and sustainability focus.  

Equinix was advised by Guggenheim Securities Europe Ltd. as financial advisor as well as Slaughter and May as legal advisor. 

Pictured: an atNorth facility in the Nordics