Global Site,United States,Australia,China,Hong Kong SAR China,Japan,Korea,New Zealand,Singapore,Thailand,Austria,Belgium,Czech Republic,Denmark,Finland,France,Germany,Hungary,Ireland,Italy,Luxembourg,Netherlands,Norway,Poland,Portugal,Romania,Slovak Republic,Spain,Sweden,United Kingdom
High-performance computing and modern technology continue to drive an increased demand for digital infrastructure. As limited supply, power availability, supply chain constraints, the impact of AI, and increasing costs present both challenges and opportunities for data center users, owners, operators, and investors, our team offers forward-looking solutions across the data center ecosystem.
Complex data center projects and operations span a range of legal issues – from M&A, investments, financing, and real estate to planning, regulatory, and day-to-day operations. Our finance work extends beyond traditional real estate finance to include project finance and hybrid approaches for financing existing data centers and development projects. We understand the nuances of the economics of data center transactions and how and when to use a master services agreement and service order for space occupancy. Negotiating across from hyperscale technology companies positions us to deliver informed strategies for success. No matter the challenge, our integrated, multi-disciplinary team of lawyers across renowned practices comes equipped with deep data center knowledge to tackle issues from all sides – no learning curve required.
As data center challenges and opportunities vary across the country and around the world, our powerful global platform delivers local knowhow when and where you need it. We work seamlessly across jurisdictions to combine global reach with nuanced local legal, commercial, and political nuances in a way no other firm can.
The explosion of AI and machine learning applications puts tremendous pressure on key infrastructure. Data centers are critical in supporting the growth of advanced AI tools and large language models, and increased demand on data centers will undoubtedly impact cost, energy consumption, and supply. We can help you navigate the evolving dynamics to develop forward-looking strategies that reduce risk and optimize opportunities driven by AI.
ESG is a growing priority for businesses across the board and as energy-intensive endeavors, ESG issues are becoming increasingly important for operating and investing in data centers. That’s why we embed ESG strategies into our tailored solutions to proactively identify and mitigate regulatory and business risks without losing sight of your commercial objectives.
At the intersection of digital and physical, we have 30+ years of experience advising on the delivery of digital infrastructure assets and services across the full life cycle of data centers worldwide and can help prepare you for what’s next.
Recognition
The Elite Privacy and Data Security, Chambers Global2023
Ranked Band 2, Data Protection, Chambers Global 2023
Ranked Band 1, Technology Sector (International & Cross-Border), Chambers USA2023
Ranked Band 1, TMT: Information Technology, Europe-wide, Chambers Global2023
European Digital Infrastructure Project of the Year, IJGlobal Awards 2021 – G.Network
Top tier for Nationwide Land Use/Zoning, Legal 500 USA, 2023
Top tier for Nationwide Real Estate, Legal 500 USA, 2023
Top tier for Infrastructure, Legal 500 UK, 2023
Experience
A US alternative investment management company on a multi-billion-dollar joint venture with a real estate investment trust company to develop several hyperscale data center campuses in Germany, France, and Northern Virginia (USA).
QTS Data Centers in securing approval of two concurrent rezoning applications for 876 acres out of 2,133 acres known as Prince William Digital Gateway. The application rezoned the agriculturally designated land to a planned development district near a portion of the Manassas National Battlefield Park in Virginia to make way for 16-18 data center buildings on six land bays or campuses.
A consortium of investors led by MEAG and Infranity, along with funds affiliated with DigitalBridge Group, on the formation of a multi-billion-euro investment partnership with Vantage Data Centers, a leading global provider of hyperscale data center campuses.
A US real estate investor on the acquisition of two data centers in Ireland.
A Middle Eastern real estate company on the acquisition of a leading Scandinavian data center operator which focuses on the building and operation of 100% renewable energy powered data centers.
A Middle Eastern real estate company and its wholly owned data center subsidiary on an agreement for a hyperscale data center with a video hosting service.
An independent asset manager on the acquisition of a German-based data center business firstcolo.
ASB Capital Management LLC in connection with (i) leasing of a data center in Colorado to a federal agency; (ii) in its carve-out sale of the Portland, Silicon Valley and Ashburn data center businesses operated by Infomart Data Centers to IPI Partners; and (iii) in the sale of Infomart Data Centers’ Dallas operations to Equinix, Inc.
A European infrastructure investment manager on the acquisition of a northern European data center business.
AirTrunk on the acquisition of a new site in Western Sydney. AirTrunk will develop the land into the largest single hyperscale data center campus in the Asia-Pacific region (excluding China).
A global leader in data center solutions in the negotiation of a data center services agreement with one of its institutional hyperscale clients.
Digital Edge (Singapore) Holdings Pte. Ltd. (Digital Edge) as it entered into a partnership with the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) and AGP DC InvestCo Pte Ltd (AGP) to develop a pan-India portfolio of hyperscale data centers.
IPI Data Center Partners Management, LLC - Stack Infrastructure, Inc. (Stack) in its inaugural securitization, an US$850 million issuance of asset-backed secured notes. The notes are secured by pledged mortgages, deeds of trust and/or deeds to secure debt and the rights under certain tenant leases. Only the second ever data warehouse securitization completed in the United States
Affinius Capital (f/k/a USAA Real Estate), as landlord in connection with a build-to-suit data center lease with a hyperscaler customer for 72 MW of capacity. This is the client’s second successful build-to-suit data center lease with this hyperscaler customer in 2023.
EDC Ventures (a joint venture of Edged Energy and Koch Real Estate Investments) to represent them as borrower/developer in a programmatic hybrid project finance/real estate construction loan covering initially 4 data center sites to be located in Atlanta, Dallas, Aurora, IL and Kansas City, MO. The properties are being developed to be partially occupied by a hyperscale tenant with room for expansion by that tenant and extra space for other occupants.
GI Partners in connection with an acquisition of a data center (with Google as the sole tenant) in Loudoun County, Virginia. The deal involved a joint venture with Seller affiliates and CMBS financing from JPMorgan.
QTS Data Centers in securing approval of two concurrent rezoning applications for 876 acres out of 2,133 acres known as Prince William Digital Gateway. The application rezoned the agriculturally designated land to a planned development district near a portion of the Manassas National Battlefield Park in Virginia to make way for 16-18 data center buildings on six land bays or campuses.
StratCap Data Centers in purchasing core and value add data centers in the US. Have helped them deploy US$400 million over 8 purchases in 2022-2023.
A UK developer and operator of data centers through the entire lifecycle of their growth, including site acquisition, planning/zoning, construction documentation, bringing power to site, tax structuring, debt refinancing of their business and lease agreements with key customers including hyperscale customers.
An African data center facility, focused on launching a data center market in Africa. After overseeing general corporate, securities, stock-issuance and labor & employment matters, we have been assisting with later stage financing, property acquisition and development.
Salute Mission Critical in the acquisition of Iconicx Critical Solutions, a provider of commissioning, testing and consulting services for data centers and mission critical environments. Through this strategic acquisition, Salute will expand its capabilities in commissioning and quality assurance/quality control (“QA/QC”), helping its customers eliminate risks and optimize the handoff from deployment to operations.
A leading global data center operator on regulatory mapping and country analysis for 10 key target growth countries, across Europe and Asia, focusing on key items to be aware of when investing in new markets, including restrictions on foreign land ownership, foreign ownership restrictions, power issues and planning/zoning concerns.
Harrison Street Real Estate and American Real Estate Partners in a joint venture for the acquisition and financing of the headquarters for AOL (formerly America Online) and Yahoo!, a 48-acre corporate campus that our clients will redevelop into a data center that will be re-branded as Pacific Corporate Park. DLA Piper’s northern Virginia land use team will represent the venture after closing to rezone the site.
Goldman Sachs on a data center outsourcing project with a Japanese telecommunications company and on the renewal of its data center co-location services arrangements with a Hong Kong based information and communications technology company.
A US technology giant on its expansion into Hong Kong through leasing of various logistics/data center sites.
Batelco on their strategic data center arrangements and construction agreements with a key hyperscale customer in Bahrain.
Deal activity in data centre infrastructure has reached unprecedented levels. Our report, The meteoric rise of the data center: Global data center investment outlook, examines the reasons behind this surge in activity and the increasingly significant role ESG has to play when making investments.
The last 30 years have been driven by the arrival of new technologies such as the internet and smartphones. The COVID-19 pandemic, which has profoundly changed our professional and personal habits, has also amplified and accelerated the use of technology. Shopping has moved online, business meetings have become virtual meetings and streaming services have replaced going to the cinema. Today, the average number of emails sent per hour across the world is expected to reach 12 billion, and we could reach 48 billion connected objects in circulation by 2025.
