Equinix and CPPIB near $4 billion deal for Icelandic data center firm atNorth

U.S. data center giant Equinix and Canada’s Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB) are reportedly close to acquiring Nordic data center operator atNorth from Swiss investment firm Partners Group.

According to Bloomberg, the deal values atNorth at approximately $4 billion, including debt. An official announcement is expected later this week, although sources caution that negotiations, while advanced, could still face delays. Representatives for Equinix, CPPIB and Partners Group have declined to comment.

Headquartered in Iceland, atNorth operates eight data centers across Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland, with two additional facilities under construction in Denmark and Finland. The company is Iceland’s largest data center operator, with domestic sites in Akureyri, Reykjanesbær and Hafnarfjörður.

Since being acquired by Partners Group in late 2021, atNorth has expanded rapidly across the Nordic region. The company employs more than 200 people, roughly half of them in Iceland.

AtNorth has also unveiled plans for a major 300-megawatt data center near Stockholm, targeted to open by the end of 2027, and recently confirmed another 300-megawatt project in Sweden. The expansion highlights growing demand for computing capacity, particularly driven by artificial intelligence applications.

U.S.-based Digital Realty had previously been reported as another potential bidder in the process.

If completed, the transaction would mark one of the largest acquisitions tied to Icelandic data center operations to date, with increasing global investor interest in energy-secure, scalable infrastructure supporting AI and data processing.