Virtus closes £2.45bn bank financing for UK and European growth
The 13-bank deal will pay for an AI-ready campus in Buckinghamshire and more capacity in Slough, but the release says little about how the money splits between sites
- Lead banks: BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole CIB, Societe Generale and Standard Chartered Bank, acting as coordinators, senior mandated lead arrangers and bookrunners
- The package includes a £1.2bn green capex facility
- Simmons & Simmons acted for Virtus and Clifford Chance for the lenders
- Virtus is part of the STTGDC group
For businesses wanting AI-capable colocation within reach of London and kept in the UK, more supply at Saunderton and Slough should widen choice and may ease pricing over time. A funding framework is not capacity, though. Customers should not plan migrations or sign pre-lets against Saunderton until Virtus commits to delivery dates and power availability, and should ask how any new halls will be allocated between existing tenants and new ones.
“It reflects the strength and stability of our existing portfolio, our track record of delivery and the opportunities ahead.”Adam Eaton, chief executive, Virtus Data Centres
Virtus Data Centres said on 24 September that it had completed a £2.45bn financing package from a consortium of 13 banks. The company describes the money as a long-term funding framework for expanding its data centers across the UK and Europe.
Virtus calls the package one of the largest data center bank financings completed in the UK to date. That ranking is the company's own, and the release offers no comparison to support it.
The flagship is Saunderton, a campus in Buckinghamshire that Virtus plans at 78 megawatts (MW) and describes as AI-ready. The release refers only to future investment in LONDON19 in Slough, with no capacity or budget, and names no European sites. The green capex facility is available in both term and revolving tranches, which Virtus says gives it flexibility to fund expansion.
Sources
- Virtus Data Centres, “VIRTUS secures £2.45 billion financing package to support continued growth”, press release, 24 September 2026. https://virtusdatacentres.com/press-releases/virtus-secures-gbp2-45-billion-financing-package-to-support-continued-growth
