Goldacre and Levinstein sign joint venture to enter the Middle East Data Centre market

Through the partnership, Goldacre secured a 13,500 sqm site in the northern Tel Aviv metro area within the city of Netanya, known as the Israeli technology hub. This is the first site signed under the Goldacre-backed Middle East Data Centre platform, NED, and the £145million site is set to bring science and research development facilities and further investment to the region.

Goldacre will use its expertise gained through its successful UK data centre platform, Kao Data. Their work has seen the operation and delivery of high-performance data centres through partnerships with Infratil Limited, Scan Business and most recently, the appointment of Gratte Brothers Ltd, to expand its KLON-06 data centre in Slough. The Levinstein Group – a leading Israeli engineering, construction and real estate listed public company – has 75 years of successful development in the country, dealing in profitable commerce and office real estate. The company will work with Goldacre and NED to use its proven track record developing specialised projects to deliver the site.

The first phase of the development, expected to begin in summer 2023 will see the construction of a fully secured 16MW stand-alone data centre facility across 50,000 sqm, equipped with the capacity for growth, in case an opportunity for expansion arises in the future. The data centre will host hyperscale and large wholesale clients fully redundant, with two electricity feeds achieving top levels of PUE.

The new site will stay true to the wider Goldacre strategy and will ensure that green-building standards will be closely observed. There are plans to develop a high tech 35,000 sqm science and research development campus alongside. Goldacre has looked to the Middle East to expand its data centre offering due to the growing demand in the region. Israel is one of the significant technological hubs in the Middle East, with its data centre market measuring USD 337 million in 2021, and investment is expected to reach USD 628.8 million by 2027.

David Bloom, Founder of Goldacre, said: “This is huge moment for both Goldacre and NED, having signed the deal on this site which is set to transform the Israeli data centre industry further and ensure we are a key part of this rapidly growing industry. It was clear to see the potential for innovation in Netanya, and we are pleased to work with our latest data centre platform NED and leading Israeli company, Levinstein, to bring our knowledge, gained through our work at Kao Data, to further develop the sector.”

Daniel Efrati, CEO of NED Data Centres, said: “We are delighted to announce the signing of the first deal for the NED platform, set to bring a new data centre and with-it new jobs and investment to the already booming tech industry in Israel.

“As the demand for data centres grows each year, we are committed to being part of the driving force meeting, and exceeding, these demands. This is a significant project, set to be delivered to the highest standards through our backing from Goldacre and partnership with Levinstein, and we are

looking forward to combining our innovation with their knowledge in the reality of bringing a Data Centre to life.”