Global Compute Infrastructure-owned firm raises PLN 1.35 billion to build in Warsaw and expand elsewhere in Poland
Polish data centre operator Atman concluded a PLN 1.35 billion agreement to finance the expansion of its data centre facilities. The loan is intended mainly for the construction of its new WAW-3 campus in Duchnice near Warsaw but will also be used for the expansion of Atman’s existing colocation facilities. The agreement was signed by 6 financial institutions from Poland and Europe.
Atman Data Centre Warsaw‑3 will eventually have 43MW of IT power. To begin operations there in Q4 2024, Atman will construct one (of three) colocation buildings and prepare custom-equipped data halls for the customers leasing entire data halls.
The WAW-3 DC campus will ultimately accommodate more than 50,000 servers in three buildings with a total area of nearly 19,000 sqm net for the collocation of IT equipment. The first stage of the investment started in October 2023, which was the construction of the first building offering 14.4MW of IT capacity, will be completed in the fourth quarter of 2024.
The move is a significant expansion for the company which currently claims a 15% share of the Polish data centre market in terms of net area for colocation, cloud computing and dedicated server services
Atman has operated in the market since 2011. In December 2020, the company was acquired by Global Compute Infrastructure, a global data centre infrastructure platform backed by the Goldman Sachs Merchant Banking Division and led by the former co-founders of Digital Realty.
Atman’s two existing data centre sites in Warsaw comprise eight colocation facilities of 10,500 sqm of IT space and 73MW of total power. The existing data centre campus is planned to expand by 3,600 sqm of colocation space in the future.
Largest loan
“The support provided to Atman by six leading financial institutions is the largest syndicated loan obtained in Poland for the development of data centres. The excellent condition of the company has been recognised by domestic and foreign financing institutions in the form of loans granted, which will enable further dynamic development of Atman as a leading data centre player in Poland and the CEE region,” said Atman CFO Wojciech Sadowski.
In addition to the standard financial requirements, the agreement places great emphasis on non-financial aspects related to energy efficiency and corporate sustainability (ESG) in all areas.
“We strongly believe in the success of our first European investment in data centres, which will give rise to further projects in this part of the world. We treat the construction of the WAW-3 campus as a flagship project of our capital group in the Central European region,” said Doug Lane, CFO of Global Compute Infrastructure, the main shareholder of Atman.
“According to many industry analysts, we are facing a great wave of growth in the data centre market,” said Atman CEO Sławomir Koszołko. “Atman is investing in the construction of new facilities, seeing good commercialisation prospects related to the growing demand for data centre services generated by the development of cloud computing and AI technology.”
He added: “In recent years, Poland has become a central data base in Central and Eastern Europe for the most important global entities in the IT industry.”