CVC DIF to acquire German data centre operator
Author: Joe Peck
Global private markets manager CVC DIF has agreed to acquire a significant majority stake in Frankfurt-based colocation data centre operator firstcolo from Cube Infrastructure Managers.
The investment will be made through DIF Value Add IV and is expected to close by the end of September 2026, subject to customary conditions.
Founded in 2007, firstcolo operates two data centres in Frankfurt and provides colocation, dedicated cloud hardware, cloud, connectivity, and managed services to more than 350 enterprise customers.
The company’s existing facilities are described as near fully utilised and it is also developing FRA7, a new data centre in Rosbach, within the Frankfurt metropolitan region, which will provide 24MW of total gross capacity.
The site has secured its power supply, required permits, and fixed-price construction arrangements. Firm tenant commitments are also in place for the facility.
FRA7 is being developed in partnership with the regional utility provider, which will supply the facility’s energy. Surplus heat from the data centre will be made available for the local district heating network.
FRA7 forms first stage of expansion
Following the acquisition, firstcolo intends to continue developing its enterprise data centre platform, with FRA7 forming part of its planned expansion in Frankfurt and other German data centre markets.
The company will continue to be led by its existing management team, including CEO and co-founder Jerome Evans, COO and co-founder Nicolaj Kamensek, and CFO Dennis Bergfeld.
Willem Jansonius, Managing Partner at CVC DIF and Co-Head of the DIF Value Add Strategy, comments, “firstcolo represents a rare opportunity to invest in a high-quality, founder-led colocation platform in an attractive and supply-constrained FLAP-D data centre market. The company combines a resilient, cash-generative existing business with a substantially de-risked expansion project.”
Stefan Moosmann, Head of DACH at CVC DIF, adds, “firstcolo is a strong example of CVC DIF’s local-for-local approach in action. The opportunity was sourced through our Frankfurt team’s local network and developed in seamless collaboration with our pan-European digital infrastructure team.”
Jerome Evans, CEO and co-founder of firstcolo, says, “FRA7 is more than a single data centre development; it is the first building block of a scalable, high-performance infrastructure platform designed to support the next generation of AI, cloud, and enterprise workloads in Germany.”
Nicolaj Kamensek, COO and co-founder of firstcolo, concludes, “FRA7 is being designed as a highly efficient, AI-ready facility with the power, cooling, connectivity, and operational processes required for demanding high-density workloads.”
