Linklaters advises CPP Investments and Equinix on US$4 billion acquisition of atNorth

Linklaters has advised Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) on its acquisition (alongside Equinix, Inc.) of atNorth, a leading Nordic high density colocation and built to suit data centre provider, from Partners Group at an enterprise value of US$4.0 billion.

CPP Investments and Equinix have entered into a joint agreement under which CPP Investments will invest approximately US$1.6 billion and will hold an approximate 60 per cent controlling interest in atNorth, with Equinix holding an approximate 40 per cent stake. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to be immediately accretive to Equinix’s adjusted funds from operations per share upon closing.

atNorth operates eight data centres, with several additional sites under development, across Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden, and has secured 2 gigawatts of power with a further 1 gigawatt in development. The platform is designed to meet growing enterprise, artificial intelligence and hyperscale demand, including through liquid cooling enabled facilities that support high density workloads. Across its portfolio, atNorth integrates renewable energy sourcing, heat reuse and highly efficient modular design to minimise environmental impact and support circular economy principles.

The Linklaters team advising CPP Investments was led by partners Michael Honan and Ben Suen, alongside partners Rich Jones and John Tsui, and managing associates Ksenija Brajovic and Akmal Chunara. Linklaters also advised both CPP Investments and Equinix on the debt financing aspects of the transaction, led by partner Ross Schloeffel and supported by managing associate Jeremy Tan.

This is another market leading transaction that we have supported CPPIB on and follows the two Q4 2025 transactions we also advised CPPIB on:

• CPPIB’s establishment of a A$14 billion (€8 billion) European data centre partnership with Goodman Group.
• CPPIB’s acquisition of Castrol alongside Stonepeak, from BP p.l.c for enterprise value of approximately US$10.1 billion.