DataCenter Fryslân was sold to data center investor Penta Infra end of March 2020. DataCenter Fryslân (DCF) was founded in 2006 as a sister company of DataDiensten Fryslân, a leading network integrator for regional clients. Hogenhouck m & a advised the shareholders of DCF on this sale.
Important hub in Friesland
The Leeuwarden-based company is the only carrier-neutral data center in the Friesland province. It is an important hub for IT suppliers, local authorities, healthcare and educational institutions in the region. After selling the data center company, entrepreneur Else Maria van der Meulen fully focuses on further developing DataDiensten Fryslân into a specialist in security and network integration.
Grown to mature organisations
Else Maria van der Meulen, director and major shareholder of DataCenter Fryslân (DCF), explains the rationale for this sale: “At DataDiensten Fryslân we have a close relationship with our customers. Both the data center and the networking company are now mature organisations. The world of data centers, networks and security is changing rapidly. It has become clear that we have come to a stage where each company needs specific focus. For me this means that I want to focus on security and network integration as director of DataDiensten Fryslân. Running the data center is now taken over by Penta Infra, but our collaboration is and remains very close. The customer contact will certainly continue to exist.”
International scope data center
Penta Infra is a provider of data center and connectivity services with eight data centers in the Netherlands and Germany. Penta has an international scope, but is also conscious of the importance of the regional position. Attracting new employees from Friesland province is a good example of this.
Closing in corona crisis
The transaction was completed during the first weeks of “lockdown” during the corona crisis in the Netherlands. Else Maria looks back on this unusual situation: “It was quite an effort in the last weeks to get everything for the sale settled from a legal perspective. Once this was all in place, the transaction was completed fully digital. That felt a bit unreal. I would rather have finalised this in person, with all the people that were involved in this process. It felt like running a marathon together but not being able to celebrate the joy of crossing the finish line together. But I’m sure there will be a moment for celebration together, hopefully in the next weeks.”
