DWS announced plans to merge The Datacenter Group (TDCG) and NLDC to become the largest independent datacenter provider in the Netherlands. Global asset manager DWS’s infrastructure business announced its acquisition of NLDC from KPN earlier this year and has now also taken a majority stake in TDCG. Both acquisitions are on behalf of DWS’ European infrastructure fund.

The merger will create a leading national player in the Dutch market, serving corporates, government, cloud and IT-providers and enterprises through a substantial footprint in Amsterdam, but also via growing regional hubs. DWS is a long-term investor in infrastructure and has the resources to accelerate the merged company’s national and international growth ambitions.

The merger will be completed in the coming months, and employees and clients will be kept closely updated on developments. The acquisition of NLDC by DWS’ infrastructure investment business was announced in May and should be completed during the third quarter of 2019.

The merger between NLDC and TDCG will create substantial benefits and opportunities for employees, customers and suppliers. Together, TDCG and NLDC have a total of 10 datacenters in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Delft, Utrecht, Groningen and Eindhoven. These locations cover nearly 50,000 m² and have 65 MW of power capacity.

The majority interest in TDCG was acquired by funds managed by DWS’ infrastructure investment business. Siemon van den Berg, founder, and CEO of TDCG, will retain a minority stake in the merged company and will continue to support its strategic development as a member of the supervisory board. The other founder of TDCG, Ali Niknam, has sold his shares to DWS. No financial details of the acquisition are disclosed.