Equinix, Inc. EQIX and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) have completed their $4 billion acquisition of Nordic data center operator atNorth, expanding their exposure to Nordic infrastructure that supports artificial intelligence, cloud and high-performance computing workloads. The transaction gives Equinix a meaningful stake in the high-density data center platform, while CPP Investments becomes the controlling shareholder.
atNorth has a footprint across all five Nordic countries, with eight operational data centers, several projects under development in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark, and expansions at existing sites. Its portfolio is designed to serve enterprise and hyperscale customers through advanced cooling technologies, renewable-energy integration and heat-reuse solutions. These capabilities enable the platform to support increasingly demanding AI and high-performance computing workloads while benefiting from the Nordics' access to renewable power.
Following the transaction, CPP Investments owns approximately 51% of atNorth after committing $1.3 billion, while Equinix holds about 34% following an $895 million commitment. Partners Group, atNorth's previous owner, reinvested $260 million for an approximately 10% stake, with the remaining interest held by atNorth's internal stakeholders. atNorth will continue operating independently under its existing brand, while Equinix brings global customer relationships and digital infrastructure expertise to support its expansion.
For Equinix, the structure provides participation in atNorth's growth without taking full ownership of the capital-intensive platform. The transaction is immediately accretive to Equinix's adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) per share. A $4.1 billion financing package, underwritten by European and Canadian lenders, will help fund the acquisition and provide capital for atNorth's continued expansion, strengthening Equinix's longer-term exposure to Nordic AI-ready infrastructure growth.
Conclusion
The atNorth acquisition is likely to strengthen Equinix’s AI and hyperscale growth strategy by expanding its exposure to high-density Nordic infrastructure at a time of strong customer demand, record bookings and rising interconnections.
For EQIX shareholders, the deal offers additional geographic diversification and potential earnings growth without requiring full ownership of atNorth. The transaction is immediately accretive to Equinix’s AFFO per share and complements the company’s broader long-term growth outlook, which calls for 9–12% annual AFFO-per-share growth from 2027 through 2029.
In the past six months, shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have gained 4.8% against the industry’s 1.8% decline.
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Stocks to Consider
Some better-ranked stocks from the broader REIT sector are Digital Realty Trust DLR and Welltower WELL, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for DLR’s 2026 FFO per share is pinned at $8.40. This indicates year-over-year growth of 13.67%.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for WELL’s 2026 FFO per share is pegged at $6.40. This calls for a year-over-year increase of 20.98%.
Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (FFO), a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.
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