DataVita secures £300 million for Scotland expansion

DataVita has secured a £300 million ($406.1m) debt facility to expand its data center footprint in Scotland, backing work on two facilities in the North Lanarkshire AI Growth Zone.

The UK data center company said the funding will support the expansion of its existing DV1 data center and the construction of a new facility, DV3. The capacity of both buildings is contracted to AI cloud firm CoreWeave under a 15-year lease agreement.

The financing package includes a £202m ($273m) financial guarantee from the National Wealth Fund. According to the company, the debt facility was raised with participation from ING, ABN AMRO, Santander, the Scottish National Investment Bank, and Siemens Financial Services through Siemens Bank.

The National Wealth Fund’s guarantee is provided against the £252.5m ($341m) of lending delivered by ING, ABN AMRO and Santander, equating to 80 percent of this tranche. The remaining portion provided by SNIB and Siemens Financial Services is uncovered.

Danny Quinn, managing director at DataVita, said: "There is plenty of talk about AI infrastructure just now. This project is being delivered: work is well advanced on site, every megawatt is contracted, and the first facility completes this year. The UK needs its own AI capability, built here and run here, and we are grateful to the National Wealth Fund and our lenders for backing a project that is already delivering it."

North Lanarkshire was appointed as an AI Growth Zone earlier this year. The zones aim to encourage data center development through financial incentives and priority access to power.

Oliver Holbourn, National Wealth Fund CEO, added: "New compute capacity is key to unlocking the UK’s future, yet private finance can be difficult to secure for emerging infrastructure at this scale. The National Wealth Fund’s guarantee is helping address that gap, giving lenders the confidence to invest. By laying the foundation for the wider Lanarkshire AI Growth Zone, we are helping support innovation and local economic opportunity, while delivering critical compute capacity for the UK’s sovereign AI ambitions."

UK AI Minister Kanishka Narayan said: "AI is already helping scientists discover new medicines, supporting better public services and helping businesses get more done. The countries that build the infrastructure behind this technology will be the ones that attract investment, create jobs and help shape the industries of the future.

"That's why today's announcements matter. They will help ensure Scotland is at the forefront of one of the biggest economic opportunities of our time, bringing investment, reindustrialization and opportunities to communities like Lanarkshire.

"For local people, that means more than new buildings and technology. It means the chance to develop new skills, access new careers and benefit from the growth and investment that AI can bring."

Built in 2021 by HFD Group, DataVita has operated its DV1 data center since 2016 and was the facility’s first occupier. The company took ownership of the facility from a syndicate of private investors in a 2021 deal with ‘£45m ($63.1m) of support’ from DataVita’s owner.

In January 2025, DataVita filed to expand the existing Fortis building with a new external plant building, and in November applied for permission to build a new data center at the site, referred to as DV3.

The company also has a second Glasgow facility, DV2, in the basement of 177 Bothwell Street. It offers 130 racks across 1,000 sqm (10,765 sq ft). Last year, neocloud CoreWeave announced that it was deploying an unspecified number of Nvidia GPUs in DataVita data centers.

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