Germany's nLighten to shine in UK market with Proximity Data Centres acquisition

nLighten has now landed in the three largest datacentre markets in Europe: Germany, France and the UK

European edge datacentre platform nLighten has acquired Proximity Data Centres to debut in the UK market.

The I Squared Capital-backed company described the UK as a "logical choice" for its expansion given its standing as a mature market with large economic regions that can benefit from more locally distributed datacentres.

The addition of Proximity's network of datacentres and track record of entering local markets positions nLighten well for capturing the increasing shift to the edge across the country, it said.

Through organic growth and strategic acquisitions this year, nLighten now has 26 datacentres and a headcount of 130.

The Germany-HQ group has also established itself in the three largest datacentre markets in Europe: Germany, France and the UK.

According to Gartner, global IT spending is projected grow 4.3 per cent to $4.7trn in 2023, with datacentre systems forecast to contribute $217bn of the total.

"The acquisition of Proximity brings us a big step closer to our goal of creating the leading pan-European edge datacentre platform", said Harro Beusker, co-founder and CEO of nLighten.

"Proximity's edge datacentres are a great fit for our portfolio, and the existing management team, staff and assets lay a solid foundation for our ambitions in the UK."

The newly acquired company also aligns with nLighten's aims to continuously reduce the environmental footprint of datacentres.

Proximity's ten facilities currently source 100 per cent of their electricity from renewables. The company stated it intends to maintain that sourcing, even at full capacity.

John Hall, co-founder, and managing director of Proximity, added: "Being part of the nLighten group of datacentres will accelerate the expansion of our portfolio of new products and services tailored for the edge computing market.

"We will also be able to provide a highly comprehensive solution to customers looking for a broad network of datacentres across multiple European locations."

RBC Capital Markets acted as a financial advisor nLighten on the transaction. Proximity were advised by Houlihan Lokey.