Houlihan Lokey Advises Proximity

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce the sale of Proximity Data Centres (Proximity), a leading edge platform in the UK with 10 carrier-neutral edge data centres, to nLighten, a European digital infrastructure platform of I Squared Capital, a leading global infrastructure investor. The transaction represents a strategic expansion for nLighten into the UK market.

Proximity operates a rapidly growing trusted network of regional carrier-neutral edge data centres across the UK. These allow clients to locate their data in key regional markets, close to the data end user. Proximity’s network of scalable edge facilities meets individual customer requirements, from specific regional data centre services through to multisite rollouts. The company’s network of high-performance data centres, strong reputation, and agility make it ideal for an increasing shift to the edge.

nLighten is a digital infrastructure platform of I Squared Capital, a leading global infrastructure investor. nLighten is developing innovative edge data centres distributed across European key economic hubs to provide best-in-class network access to regional, national, and global enterprises, private users, and the mobile workforce.

nLighten’s expansion into the UK, through the acquisition of Proximity, is a logical choice given it is a mature market with large economic regions that can benefit from more locally distributed data centres. In addition, Proximity has an impressive track record of entering new regional markets in the UK, which aligns with nLighten's strategy of integrating data centres into regional markets. Proximity’s high standards of sustainability also fit with nLighten’s, which aims to continuously reduce the environmental footprint of data centres. Proximity's 10 data centres use power from 100% renewable sources, which will continue, even at full capacity.

Harro Beusker, co-founder and CEO of nLighten, said, “The planned acquisition of Proximity brings us a big step closer to our goal. nLighten aims to create the leading pan-European edge data centre platform. Proximity’s edge data centres 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.”

John Hall, co-founder and Managing Director of Proximity, said, “Being part of the nLighten group of data centres will enable Proximity to accelerate the expansion of its portfolio of new products and services tailored for the edge computing market. In addition, we will be able to provide a highly comprehensive solution to customers looking for a broad network of data centres across multiple European locations.”

Houlihan Lokey acted as exclusive sellside advisor to Proximity, further strengthening the firm's credentials in the data centre sector.