We are delighted to announce that Kao Data has fully repaid a loan facility provided by Downing-managed funds, after the growing data centre business secured new debt funding from Deutsche Bank.  

The new loan facility from Deutsche Bank, which can extend to £356m, will help to propel growth across Kao Data’s operational and planned assets and will support its expansion plans across the UK and Europe.

A proportion of the new funding will be used to repay Downing-managed funds, which provided growth capital to fund the construction of the first data centre building at Kao Data’s Harlow campus in 2017.  

During the term of the loan, the business has gone from strength to strength, raising investment from institutional investors Legal & General Capital and Infratil. This supported further expansion at Harlow and funded the acquisition and operation of additional data centre locations, establishing Kao Data as a multi-site platform, with a focus on AI and advanced computing.  

Tom Phillips, Head of Institutional Business Development, Downing, said: “Since our first meeting with the company’s founders in 2015, we’ve been early believers in Kao Data’s expertise, mindset, and its vision for growth. We were delighted to provide Kao Data with growth capital funding in 2017 and saw an attractive opportunity to support them in the development of their sustainable data centre platform.  

“During the term of our investment, Kao Data has proved itself as an excellent example of what we look for in the businesses we like to back: a high-quality management team with a compelling business case. We are proud to have helped the company establish a firm foothold as a leader in one of the world’s most competitive, international data centre markets, whilst also delivering a successful return for our funds.”

Matthew Harris, CFO, Kao Data, said: “I’d like to thank our lenders for their trust in our philosophy and ambition, which has been fully vindicated during the last decade, and all who have played an instrumental part in the evolution of the Kao Data platform.”