IFC mulls $50 mln for data centre for Turkey's Data Merkezi Bir Uretim

The IFC investment will consist of a senior loan of up to $35 million to the company and an equity investment of up to 25 million into an intermediary holding company that will own all the share capital of the company, IFC said in a statement on Tuesday.

The proposed project consists of the development, construction and operation of a 12,000 sq m data centre in Istanbul and potentially a second facility in Ankara. The total project cost is estimated at $250 million.

Zenium Topco Limited, a company formed by Data Merkezi Bir Uretim Insaat Sanayi’s management to serve as a platform for investing in existing and greenfield wholesale data centre opportunities in different markets, is building the data centre in Istanbul. The data centre is expected to start operation in the first quarter of 2015.

Zenium is also reviewing land options for a potential secondary site in Ankara, with construction expected to start  in March 2015 in preparation for operating in January 2016, IFC said.

The two facilities will operate as carrier neutral data centres. They shall be the first wholesale independent data centres in Turkey and will host Information Communications and Technology (ICT) infrastructure for mission critical applications, as well as provide off-site back-up of client data and systems.

($ = 0.802 euro)