Element Critical has launched a new U.S. data center platform backed by 26North Partners, Arctos, Mercuria, and long-time sponsor Safanad, anchored by the acquisition of two enterprise facilities in Houston and Austin. The expanded partnership builds on Safanad’s decade-long development of Element Critical and aims to accelerate acquisitions, development, and strategic growth across top-tier U.S. markets. 

The platform is designed to meet surging demand from enterprise clients as well as the capacity requirements of AI inference and next-generation workloads in sectors such as financial services, healthcare, energy, and technology. “Through this investment and data center acquisition strategy, Element Critical will be well-positioned to support the needs of leading clients,” said CEO Ken Parent. “These Texas facilities will anchor our expansion into other top U.S. markets.” 

Guggenheim Securities and Goldman Sachs served as financial advisors to Safanad, with King & Spalding as legal counsel. DLA Piper advised 26North, while Kirkland & Ellis acted as legal advisor to the platform for the Texas acquisitions. BofA Securities, Citizens Bank, and Huntington National Bank led the transaction financing. 

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