UK infrastructure fund D9 has acquired UK data center firm Volta and its central London facility. The fund has previously bought Iceland's Verne Global, a Newcastle data center, and international fiber.

Digital 9 Infrastructure plc announced this week it has signed a binding sale and purchase agreement for the acquisition of GAData Holdings Limited (trading as Volta Data Centres) for £45 million ($58.5m).

Volta wholly owns and operates a 91,000 square foot (8,450 sq m), 6MW facility in central London, and provides colocation services. The facility on the edge of the City of London near Farringdon Station, has been in operation since 2013. It was previously a former Reuter's facility from the 1980s the company refurbished.

The company said the deal “delivers on D9's metro Edge data center strategy” to identify facilities located in or near urban centers offering low latency connectivity to customers.

"Data centers form a key part of the digital infrastructure backbone. The acquisition of Volta, which was a pipeline investment identified at IPO, adds to our portfolio of data centers which are in key connectivity locations, as D9 continues to build an integrated platform, driving connectivity throughout its investments,” said Jack Waters, chair of D9.

Thor Johnsen, head of digital infrastructure at Triple Point Investment Management LLP, added: "Volta is one of central London's best-connected data centers, providing a unique opportunity to purchase a freehold operating asset with over 100 customers and an exciting long-term future as customers continue to seek low latency access in key centralized locations. We are particularly excited to explore opportunities across existing enterprise customers to optimise data centre utilisation across the broader platform, balancing the low latency metro access of Volta with the predictable power costs and sustainability benefits of our Nordic data centre platform, Verne Global."

Akur Capital advised on the acquisition.

Triple Point raised £300 million ($408m) from a March 2021 IPO through D9, which acquired submarine cable owner Aqua Comms for £160m ($215m) and its upcoming EMIC-1 cable shortly afterwards.

In June that year, it raised another £175 million ($246.7m) and subsequently acquired Verne for £231 million ($320m) before investing in the freehold of a Newcastle data center and cable landing station in northern England for £15m ($19.8m); Stellium Data Centers is remaining as tenant in the data center building.

In January 2022, D9 raised another £95.2 million ($127.4m) through a share placing, and acquired a controlling stake in Ireland’s public safety communications network, paying €76 million ($84.8m) for a 56 percent stake in Tetra Ireland Communication.

Earlier this month, D9’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Digital 9 Wireless Limited, acquired Leeson Telecom Limited (known as Host Ireland), an enterprise broadband provider in Greater Dublin of Ireland for around €60 million ($65m).