Stoneweg Data Centre Fund Adds Fifth Asset After SGX-Listed REIT’s $58M Infusion

A data centre fund managed by the sponsor of Stoneweg Europe Stapled Trust (SERT) has acquired a fifth asset after receiving a €50 million ($58 million) investment last month from the Singapore-listed REIT.

The fund, known as AiOnX (formerly IDC), is adding the site in Cambridgeshire, England, following the earlier acquisition of four development sites in Ireland, Spain, Italy and Denmark, SERT’s managers said Wednesday in a release.

SERT sponsor SWI Group, an investment platform created from Swiss firm Stoneweg and London-based Icona Capital, plans to develop the five assets into digital infrastructure with 2 gigawatts of total capacity, making AiOnX one of Europe’s largest data centre owners.

“This strategic move provides SERT with early exposure to a rare, high-growth hyperscale platform, positioning SERT to capture development-led returns beyond traditional stabilised acquisitions,” said Simon Garing, executive director and CEO of the trust’s managers. “At the same time, we remain firmly committed to prudent capital management and maintaining SERT’s investment-grade credit rating.”

Golden Triangle Bet

SERT is the successor of Cromwell European REIT, which came under Stoneweg’s umbrella when Icona Capital acquired Australia-based Cromwell Property Group’s European fund management platform last October for €280 million.

After Cromwell E-REIT was rebranded as Stoneweg European REIT, the managers announced last month that the vehicle would be stapled to Stoneweg European Business Trust to form SERT.

The Cambridgeshire data centre site, located at Sutton-in-the-Isle between Cambridge and Peterborough, will be scaled up to a final capacity of 330 megawatts, targeting Britain’s cluster of global tech operators in the Golden Triangle of Cambridge, Oxford and London, according to AiOnX.

“We are pleased to have added the acquisition of the Cambridgeshire site to our four other hyperscale centres as we have been unstinting and steadfast in setting out to create one of Europe’s most valuable data centre groups” said SWI chairman and co-CEO Max-Herve George.

Complementary Strategy

SERT’s portfolio, valued at €2.2 billion ($2.6 billion), comprises over 100 properties in or near gateway cities of the Netherlands, Italy, France, Poland, Germany, Finland, Denmark, Slovakia, Czechia and Britain. The portfolio’s total lettable area of 1.7 million square metres (18.3 million square feet) serves more than 800 tenants.

The trust’s stake in AiOnX is expected to range from 4 to 8 percent, depending on the final quantum of investment made by the fund’s other backers.

The investment represents a value-add, adjacent strategy that enhances the overall growth profile of SERT while complementing the stability and income generation of the core logistics and light industrial portfolio, according to the managers.