A trio of UK Magic Circle law firms have been called in to advise on the $4bn acquisition of Nordic data centre operator atNorth.
Slaughter and May and Linklaters are advising buyers Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) and Equinix on the deal, while atNorth’s owner, Partners Group, is being counselled by Clifford Chance.
The deal values atNorth at $4bn, including debt, according to a statement on Friday. CPP Investments will invest about $1.6bn and own 60% of atNorth, with Equinix to hold the remainder.
Slaughter and May is advising CPP Investments and Equinix on their joint agreement to purchase atNorth and is also acting for Equinix on its arrangements with CPP Investments.
The team is being fielded by corporate partners James Cook and Hemita Sumanasuriya, who previously advised Equinix on its expansion into Africa in 2022 through the $320m acquisition of MainOne. Cook also advised the California-based data centre operator on its £2.35bn acquisition of Telecity back in 2016.
Meanwhile, Linklaters has advised CPP Investments on the acquisition, with the team led by M&A partner Michael Honan and private equity partner Ben Suen, alongside TMT partner Rich Jones and corporate partner John Tsui. The firm is also advising both CPP Investments and Equinix on the debt financing aspects of the transaction, led by partner Ross Schloeffel.
Linklaters has acted for the pension fund on a number of major deals, including its establishment of an €8bn European data centre partnership with Goodman Group and its acquisition of Castrol alongside Stonepeak from BP for $10.1bn in Q4 2025.
Infrastructure investors and private equity firms have been rushing to put money into data centres amid the boom in artificial intelligence.
Iceland-based atNorth has eight operational data centres alongside several sites under development across Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden. The platform is designed to meet growing enterprise, artificial intelligence and hyperscale demand, including through liquid cooling‑enabled facilities that support high‑density workloads.
Clifford Chance advised Partners Group – one of the largest firms in the global private markets industry – when it bought atNorth in 2021, with the team led by Spencer Baylin, the firm’s London head of private capital. Baylin is again at the helm for its sale, with support from PE M&A partner Angharad Lewis and competition partner Jennifer Storey.
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.
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