Spanish real estate firm has raised €921 million ($998m) to fund its data center business.
First reported by Bloomberg, the company this week announced it would carry out a capital increase by issuing up to 93,954,149 privately placed new ordinary shares.
The net income from the raise will be used for the development and expansion of Merlin’s data center business line and other general corporate uses.
Merlin first announced plans to move into the data center space in 2021. The company is working with Edged Energy, the new data center venture from Aligned founder Jakob Carnemark.
The company has developments across Spain and Portugal in Bilbao Arasur (x2), Madrid-Getafe, Barcelona, and Lisbon. In February DCD reported that Meta had become the main customer for the three live Merlin data centers in Spain.
According to a mid-year company report published in June, Merlin’s MAD01-GET, BCN01-PLZF, and BIO03-ARA data centers are fully operational. They span 22,510 sqm (242,295 sq ft), 22,130 sqm (238,205 sq ft), and 17,600 sqm (189,445 sq ft) respectively – reports suggest they launched with 3MW each and are targeting an additional 24MW in total by the end of the year.
It said a construction license had been granted for the LIS01-VFX data center and power secured for a 100MW AI Campus. A construction license for BIO02-ARA is expected in Q4 2024 and 94MW of power is in place. BIO02-ARA will span 26,000 sqm, and LIS01-VFX Lisbon 32,980 sqm.
To date, the company has invested €294 million ($318.7m), with another €55 million ($59.6m) in capex expected for the second half of the year. Merlin expects to invest another €286 million ($310m) between 2025 and 2027. This phase one pipeline will deliver 60MW of capacity.
Phase II will see the company develop another 200MW between 2024 and 2028, investing €2.1 billion ($2.27bn). This build-out includes 100MW in Lisbon-VFX, another 94MW in Bilbao-Arasur, and 6MW of repowering capacity in Barcelona-PLZF.
Merlin CEO Ismael Clemente previously told shareholders at a company AGM that in addition to a capital raise, it could sell assets or seek external funding to secure the €2 billion needed to fund the 200MW build-out.
The company also owns 105 office buildings, 95 logistics warehouses, and 12 shopping centers in Spain and Portugal.
Merlin’s two top shareholders, Banco Santander SA, and Nortia Capital, as well as company officials including CEO Clemente, participated in the offering to maintain their current stakes.
Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley have acted as joint global coordinators for the capital increase.
