2 Who are the Investors (and from which Nations) behind the surge in UK AI Data Centre Developments? Part 2
We continue September’s investigation of where the money for UK AI Data Centres is coming from.
Here, we look at the second part of our list: Japan, the UK itself, the Middle East and Canada.
Overview
Last month we established that the market leaders are, at present, overwhelmingly American in origin. After the Hyperscalers (Microsoft, Amazon, Meta and Alphabet – Google’s holding company – and Blackstone) come a series of astute and supremely wealthy private equity companies, REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) and US AI companies like CoreWeave.
Singapore currently comes second to the US with the Singaporean Government the only shareholder in its global investment company Temasek Holdings.
So, Who’s Next?
Japan
SoftBank
In 2026, the Japanese technology conglomerate SoftBank completed a $4 billion acquisition of American digital infrastructure firm DigitalBridge Group. The latter manages data centre platforms including Switch, Vantage Data Centres, Yondr Group, DataBank and Atlas Edge which offers combined assets of around $108 billion.
This acquisition gives SoftBank indirect access to the UK through DigitalBridge’s portfolio companies, making it a significant future force in European data centre investment.
NTT (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Group) Global Data Centers
One of Japan’s largest corporations, NTT operates the NTT Global Data Centers brand. The NTT Data division became private in a $16.4 billion deal in 2025, and floated a data centre REIT in Singapore.
NTT operates data centres in London and is actively expanding in Europe.
British Developers
VIRTUS Data Centres — British, headquartered in London
Founded in 2007, VIRTUS is the UK’s largest home-owned data centre operator and one of the top five operators in the UK by capacity. It has received investment from institutional sources but remains UK-focused. It offers multiple facilities across London being a major colocation provider for UK financial services, government and enterprise.
Ark Data Centres — British, headquartered in Hampshire
Primarily based in the south of England, Ark is a major provider to the UK public sector and defence, specialising in highly secure facilities designed to UK Government IL4 and IL5 standards. Because of the strategic importance of its facilities to national security, foreign involvement in ownership is strictly limited.
Reef Group / Digital Reef – British, headquartered in London
Reef Group is a British property developer diversifying into digital infrastructure. It is the
developer behind both the £14.7 billion East Havering Data Centre (London) and a separate 23-hectare technology and data centre park at Didcot, Oxfordshire. If built, the East Havering project would be the largest data centre campus in Europe at 218 hectares.
Greystoke
A British developer which partners with Anglo Renewables and Anglo Energy Storage, Greystoke is developing the Greystoke is also developing the West London Tech Park at Slough and Hayes and the Abbots Langley Data Centre, Hemel Hempstead.
In March 2026, Greystoke obtained outline planning permission for a 176-hectare, 1 GW campus, the Elsham Tech Park in North Lincolnshire, which would be the largest approved AI data centre campus in the UK so far. This project is expected to attract £10 billion in private investment but the tech operators and institutions involved are as yet unidentified.
Tritax Big Box REIT
Listed on the London Stock Exchange, Tritax is a UK Real Estate Investment Trust. It is the largest UK-listed company specifically focused on data centre investment, with plans for 1GW data centres sited across the UK.
In January 2025 Tritax acquired the desirable 74-acre site at Manor Farm, Heathrow to build a 147 MW data centre.
Middle East
MGX Fund Management — Emirati, backed by Abu Dhabi sovereign capital
Based in Abu Dhabi, MXG is an AI and advanced technology investment company backed by Mubadala Investment Company and G42. These are both UAE sovereign-linked.
In the largest data centre deal ever signed, MGX participated in the $40 billion acquisition of Aligned Data Centers in October 2025 alongside Microsoft, Nvidia, and Global Infrastructure Partners.
Although Aligned Data Centers is primarily a US operator, MGX’s entry indicates growing Gulf interest in Western data centre infrastructure which is likely to involve the UK.
Canada
CPP (Canadian Pension Plan) Investments
In February 2026, CPP Investments joined with Equinix and Partners Group in the $4 billion acquisition of the Nordic AI data centre platform atNorth.
CPP has been an active co-investor in European digital infrastructure alongside Blackstone (it co-invested in the AirTrunk acquisition). Behind the scenes, this Canadian investment company is playing an increasingly significant role in UK and European data centre financing.
Conclusion
While the Big Boys have been presciently investing in Data Centre infrastructure for years, the potential for profit is driving a race to find suitable locations across the globe. Governments have looked at the potential tax revenue and rubbed their hands, but increasing publicity on social media and now the mainstream news has elevated concerns about the negatives (the damage to wildlife, the noise, the financial and environmental costs in terms of water and power and the recognition that few jobs are created long term, etc). These are fuelling grass roots rebellions. With the Finnish Government calling a halt to the development of Google’s new Data centres in Muhos and Kajaanii following unauthorised destruction of over 300 hectares of forest, will other Governments now question the cost to their countries and their political popularity?