Data Center Finance: England Data Center Sold by SSE Enterprise Telecoms

SSE Enterprise Telecoms announced in early October that it had sold its Hampshire, England data center to SCC for more than $19 million.

The U.K. data center is a certified Tier III facility covering more than 100,000 square feet. The complex also includes the capacity for future expansions if necessary. The Hampshire data center offers both colocation and pre-configured space, as well as private suites. The facility also features unconfigured areas that can be provided to customers interested in developing their own environments to meet specific requirements.

SSE officials have stated that the sale of its Hampshire facility will allow the company to simplify its business operations. By letting go of a major England data center, SSE is able to focus on its high-performance, high-availability fiber optic network that serves customers across the U.K. As part of its renewed focus, SSE is planning on expanding the network with more than 8,500 miles of additional fiber.

While SSE is pulling back from the data center industry, SCC spent more than $80 million on data center and cloud development last year. SCC has been enhancing its managed services offerings, and in February the company acquired print services firm M2. SCC is also currently making improvements to its other England data center, adding 900 extra racks to its Birmingham facility by the end of November

SCC's acquisition of the Hampshire data center is expected to be completed by the end of 2014.