Equinix and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) have entered into a joint agreement to acquire Nordic data centre operator atNorth from Partners Group, in a USD 4bn (EUR 3.39bn) transaction.

CPPIB will invest roughly USD 1.6bn (EUR 1.36bn) for an approximate 60% controlling interest, while Equinix will own a remaining 40% stake.

Goldman Sachs was mandated to run the sale, as exclusively confirmed by NPM in September, while Guggenheim advised Equinix. Altman Solon was appointed to provide consultancy services, NPM sources said. Linklaters provided legal support to CPPIB.

As part of the deal, CPPIB and Equinix have provisionally agreed to a financing package of USD 4.2bn (EUR 3.6bn), underwritten by an unnamed group of European and Canadian lenders.

The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive upon close to Equinix’s adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) per share.

The transaction is subject to customary close conditions, including regulatory approvals.

Headquartered in Iceland, atNorth operates eight data centres in Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland, serving hyperscale cloud, AI, and high-performance computing customers.

The company also has plans for further expansion, with 1 GW of secured power and approximately 800 MW in additional installed and active development pipeline.

The deal will expand Equinix’s footprint in the Nordic region and add to CPPIB’s data centre investments within its infrastructure portfolio.

Equinix currently operates eight datacentres in the Nordics, including five in Helsinki and three in Stockholm. Overall, it has more than 100 facilities across 20 countries within its portfolio.

Partners Group acquired atNorth in 2022.