Charles Russell Speechlys advises the founder of Global Technical Realty on USD$1bn investment by KKR
A multi-disciplinary team at Charles Russell Speechlys has advised Franek Sodzawiczny, founder and CEO of data centre platform Global Technical Realty (GTR), and his management team on an initial USD$1bn investment by global investment firm KKR. GTR will design and construct data centres for global hyper-scalers in key European markets.
Franek Sodzawiczny, formerly founder & CEO of Zenium and veteran of the data centre market, will be joined by a number of highly experienced professionals with deep roots in the data centre industry across Europe, as part of the management team.
Franek stated: "We are thrilled to have found an investor like KKR that shares our vision for the future of the data centre market. KKR’s breadth of resources and tremendous expertise will allow GTR to fully participate in this growing market and provide a solid foundation for GTR’s future growth and success.
Having worked with Keir and the Charles Russell Speechlys team previously, I was sure that their expertise in private equity and the data centre market would help facilitate a great outcome for us all. Their support on the deal and the continuing work setting up the GTR platform has proved invaluable.”
Speaking of the deal, Keir Gordon commented, "We are delighted to have advised Franek and his management team on the establishment of GTR and on this significant investment by KKR. The data centre market remains as strong as ever, even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our sector expertise and long term relationship with the client enabled us to work collaboratively with KKR and its team of advisors and help facilitate a really positive process - we look forward to working with GTR and KKR on this exciting new platform.”
The Charles Russell Speechlys team was led by Corporate Partner Keir Gordon, supported by Legal Director Deborah Robson, and Associate Kunal Shah. Employment advice was provided by Partner Nick Hurley and Tax advice was provided by Partner Robert Birchall.
The data centre team have previously advised Mr Sodzawiczny on both the purchase of Stockley Park data centre in 2017 (for the Zenium Group) and on the sale of Zenium to CyrusOne in 2018.
