Oaktree Capital Management is preparing a major funding drive for its data centre development arm, Pure Data Centres Group (Pure DC), as it looks to raise at least £800 million through the sale of a 20% to 40% minority stake. The deal, which values Pure DC between £4 billion and £5 billion, signals Oaktree’s confidence in the accelerating global demand for hyperscale digital infrastructure.

Pure DC currently operates more than 500MW of capacity across the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, serving clients in fast-growing sectors such as cloud computing and artificial intelligence. The fundraising process is expected to begin as early as November, although details of timing and structure are still being finalised.

A key element of Pure DC’s growth strategy is its £1 billion joint venture with property investment firm SEGRO PLC to build a 56MW data centre in Park Royal, West London. The three-storey, 30,000 square metre facility—SEGRO’s first fully fitted data centre—will occupy a 10-acre site on Premier Park Road with 70MVA of secured power. Designed to support next-generation cloud and AI workloads, the site is expected to be pre-let to a major hyperscale customer on a lease of at least 15 years.

Construction is scheduled to begin in 2026, subject to planning and financing approvals, with completion targeted for 2029. SEGRO will contribute about £150 million in cash equity, with projected net returns of between 9% and 10%. The development is expected to create hundreds of local jobs during the build phase and will include initiatives to upskill local workers and promote diversity in technology.

Analysts see both the Park Royal project and the proposed stake sale as evidence of Oaktree’s strategic intent to capitalise on the soaring demand for large-scale data infrastructure worldwide. With digital transformation accelerating and AI workloads growing rapidly, such investments are becoming central to the UK’s ambition to lead in digital innovation and responsible AI.

Oaktree’s decision to bring new investors into Pure DC underlines rising confidence in data centre infrastructure as a cornerstone of the global digital economy. The Park Royal venture, in particular, stands as a model for how private capital can drive technological progress while delivering lasting community and economic benefits.

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