Creating value from the data centre opportunity: Strategies for growth in the European market and key value drivers

European data centre investors are drawn to the sector’s strong growth fundamentals, undersupplied market and potential for profitable investment in adjacencies. Our latest white paper provides a deep dive into the investment landscape, providing insights on the high-growth asset classes, the challenges faced by FLAP-D markets and the emergence of secondary markets, primarily in Southern Europe and the Nordics. 

This white paper provides investors with a roadmap to navigate challenges, understand the profitability drivers, while capitalising on the sector’s strong fundamentals across various European markets, covering: 

Data centre market growth & investment opportunities 

• The European data centre market is significantly undersupplied, with demand outpacing infrastructure development creating attractive opportunities for investors 
• Investment opportunities extend across the entire data centre value chain, from building facilities, acquiring an operator and investing in adjacencies​ 

M&A trends: Record growth & market consolidation 

• 2024 saw record-breaking data centre transactions globally, with more than 21 deals exceeding $2 billion and private equity firms driving 85-90% of deals since 2022, signalling strong investor interest 
• Europe’s well-established market saw significant activity, with 46% CAGR growth in deal volumes since 2019, and strong activity in ​Germany, UK, France, Italy and emerging secondary markets.  

Growth of Hyperscale and Edge data centres 

• AI workloads and low-latency applications are fueling a shift towards co-location and distributed computing models. 
• Hyperscale data centres are projected to grow from 37% to 50% of global capacity by 2027. 

Secondary markets and opportunities  

• FLAP-D markets (Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris, Dublin) remain dominant, but face constraints such as rising costs, energy availability and regulations  
• Secondary markets in Southern Europe, such as Madrid and Milan, and the Nordics are gaining increasing attention from investors. Other notable secondary markets include Berlin, Vienna, Zurich and Warsaw. 

Key considerations for investors 

The white paper outlines critical factors including operational efficiency, supply chain challenges, and regulatory uncertainty, that investors and data centre operators must consider during the construction and operation phases.