Thor Equities Group announces US$648mn Madrid data centre
Thor Equities Group, a global leader in real estate, has signed a contract to acquire and develop a state-of-the-art €600M data centre facility in Madrid, ‘Madrid One’. The project represents the first asset in the firm’s new specialised data centre division, Thor Digital.
According to the company, the project is at an advanced stage of design and permitting with construction to begin later this year. As part of the project, Thor has selected a market-leading local team of partners, including Arnaiz, a local operating partner and specialists in land promotion and development; Quark, Madrid’s leading data centre engineering company; and Frank Hassett (Global Data Centre Design), to develop the campus and ensure best-in-class solutions aligned to the requirements of our customers.
The 200,000m2 campus aims to focus on sustainability and offers phase one committed power of up to 20MW IT load growing to over 100MW. Madrid One will be one of the region’s largest data centre campuses with committed power, further benefitting from diverse power feeds and access to multiple IP transit and dark fibre providers, offering a unique market proposition, Thor said in a statement.
“Our decision to enter the data centre asset class is consistent with our forward-looking approach and strategy to acquire and develop high-quality assets globally, beginning with ‘Madrid One’,” said Chairman of Thor Equities Group, Joseph Sitt. “As Thor’s first project in the sector, this development is representative of our commitment to building a wide-ranging portfolio in Europe and will allow us to enhance our capabilities as a developer and manager.”
Data centre industry expert Roy Gibbens to oversee market expansion and lead the Thor Digital data centre division
Thor has appointed industry expert Roy Gibbens to lead Thor Digital and oversee expansion into new and emerging markets, with primary responsibility across EMEA. In his previous role with Ark Data Centres, he served on their board as ‘Executive Director Sales and Marketing”. Gibbens was responsible for business development both domestically and internationally and was instrumental in developing and securing large scale contracts with some of the world’s largest companies.
Before joining Ark, he served as European Sales Director for Digital Realty Inc. During this period, Gibbons developed the European market for this US-based REIT, working with clients across multiple verticals in the data centre space.
“We are thrilled to enter the ever-evolving data centre class with Roy Gibbens spearheading Thor Digital. Roy will play an instrumental role in sourcing opportunities in key markets globally and distinguish Thor as a leader in the industry,” said Head of Thor Equities Europe, David Hunt-Cuadrado. “Importantly Spain has one of the most reliable energy networks in Europe whilst also benefiting from both strong fiber and network connectivity with both South America and Africa.”
