American technology real estate company QTS will taking over a large data centre in the Eemshaven and one on the Zernike campus in Groningen.
Translation by Traci White
According to Dagblad van het Noorden, QTS has purchased both centres for 44 millions euros and expects an additional investment of 15 million euros to get the centres up and running again. QTS is a real estate investment trust which owns 25 data centres and other tech facilities in Europe and North America.
RTV Noord reports that the two data centres were previously owned by TCN SIG real estate, and they have both been for sale since 2012. One of the data centres is in the Eemshaven and was being used by Google in recent years. Groningen Seaports, which operated the harbours in Delfzijl and the Eemshaven, is glad to hear that QTS is coming to the north: Google already has a large data center in the area.
On the Zernike campus, the company is also taking over the TCN Data Hotel, where around 20 companies are currently renting space. The takeover of the two data centers should create several dozen new jobs.
The two TCN SIG facilities have been at the centre of a potential bribery case in recent years. Rudy S., the director and owner of TCN SIG, was sentenced in 2018 in connection to paying several Google employees in 2008 to try to get a more lucrative rental contract for his company. The purchase did not move forward, but Google did extend the contract. S. was eventually charged and is appealing the sentence.
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