Telecity Group Buys Footprint in Helsinki Market

telecity-tenue

The data hall inside a Tenue data center in Helsinki. Tenue has been acquired by TelecityGroup, the companies said today. (Photo: Tenue)

In a deal that illustrates the growing strategic importance of the Nordic region in the global data center market, TelecityGroup today announced it has acquired Tenue Oy, one of Finland’s leading providers of carrier-neutral data centres, for £3.7 million ($5.8 million US)  in cash. TelecityGroup gains one of the most connected data centres in Helsinki with about 1 megawatt of current customer capacity, plus another facility under construction in Helsinki which will offer a further 4 megawatts of space.

Helsinki is an emerging internet hub city within the Nordic region, and was attractive to TelecityGroup because it offers easy access to Russia and the Baltic countries. The city has become known for innovative data center design in facilities integrating its underground district heating system and sea-water cooling - a concept Google has embraced in Hamina, Finland.

"Today’s announcement underlines Helsinki’s importance as a growing strategic internet hub location," said Sami Holopainen, CEO of Tenue, who will become managing director for TelecityGroup Finland. "Combining our business with Europe’s leading provider of data centres will be a great boost and will help us take advantage of the booming domestic and international demand for highly connected data centre services in Finland.”

A recent survey by Cushman & Wakefield showed growing interest in the Nordic countries as data center destinations, a trend driven by the focus on cool climates and renewable energy sourcing. Leading the way was Iceland,which was the fourth most popular location, followed by Sweden (eighth) and Norway (12th).

The colder climate in Scandinavian countries allows increased use of free cooling (the use of fresh air in cooling systems), which can reduce reliance on mechanical cooling. “What we are seeing, certainly in the data storage market, is the rise of the Nordics, which may in the future dilute the market share from the traditional centres in Europe,” said Keith Inglis, partner in the EMEA Data Centre Advisory Group at Cushman & Wakefield.

TelecityGroup sees Helsinki as an important gateway to the market for data center services in Russia, according to CEO Michael Tobin.

“There is significant demand from our customers for high quality, connected data centre services with proximity to the growing Russian market and we see an important growth opportunity by entering this new market," said Tobin. "Tenue is a successful data centre operator with strong growth potential. I am delighted to welcome Sami Holopainen and his team at Tenue to TelecityGroup and look forward to working together as we continue to expand our presence across Europe."