Dubai’s DAMAC Group to build data centres in Europe, scales up tech ambitions

Dubai: The DAMAC Group has struck a deal with Dublin-based Dataplex Group for data centre projects in Europe. The partnership will focus on brownfield projects, involving the retrofit of existing structures, and larger greenfield projects, with specific focus on hyper scale and wholesale colocation customers.

DAMAC has also invested in Dataplex, which will result in a shareholding of up to 45 per cent of the company over time. DAMAC and another Dataplex shareholder Chirisa have acquired land in Abbotstown for a greenfield 70 MW+ data centre and industrial campus development in Dublin, Ireland.

Earlier this year, DAMAC made its foray into the data centre industry by launching Edgnex, a global digital infrastructure company headquartered in Dubai.

“DAMAC Group is developing data centre facilities to support the growth of digital economies across the globe,” said Hussain Sajwani. “Our work with Dataplex enables us to serve exponential demand coming from local markets, driven by rapid digital transformation, booming digital economies, and growing internet users.”

Edgnex identifies and invests in the next digital hubs and aims to disrupt the local data centre market. According to the company’s statement, Edgnex has a series of acquisitions focused on developing local data centre facilities in emerging markets in the pipeline. “We have a track record of recognising opportunities, making significant investments and capturing a first mover advantage,” Sajwani added.