Independent UK law firm Burges Salmon has advised Tritax Big Box REIT plc (TBBR) on its acquisition of a 50% share in a newly formed joint venture (JV) with one of Europe's largest major renewable and low-carbon energy generators, accelerating power delivery to its newly acquired 74-acre site at Heathrow, set to become one of the largest data centres in the UK at full build-out.
The JV will provide the site, known as Manor Farm, with grid connections to two independent substations and facilitate an accelerated timeline for the potential delivery of up to 147 MW of power, supporting the development of the ambitious and large-scale data centre scheme. Working with its JV partner, TBBR has also created a further pipeline of potential data centre opportunities in key locations across the UK, leveraging c. 1GW of power availability.
Burges Salmon’s Built Environment and Energy sector groups advised TBBR, with a team led by partners Malcolm Donald, Ross Polkinghorne and Alec Whiter. The firm provided specialist corporate, real estate, energy power and construction expertise.
In addition, director Nia Stewart from the Construction team, working alongside Burges Salmon’s specialist Energy Projects, Corporate and Real Estate teams, advised on the development management agreement with Tritax Management LLP (TML) pursuant to which TML has been appointed to provide development management and technical services, including pursuing planning, overseeing construction, pre-letting services, technical electricity expertise and overseeing the technical aspects of TBBR’s role in the JV and all power related elements.
Malcolm Donald of Burges Salmon comments: “Whilst data centres are classified by the UK Government as Critical National Infrastructure, historically the lack of power has significantly restricted their development. Therefore, it’s been fantastic to work with TBBR to facilitate a new JV partner to provide accelerated access to clean power in this enviable Heathrow location and we look forward to continuing to support our client as it pursues its ambitious plan to invest in, and develop, one of the largest data centres in the UK.”
Frankie Whitehead, Partner and CFO at TBBR, adds: “The combination of Manor Farm's prime London location and accelerated access to critical grid connection agreements creates the opportunity to develop quickly one of the UK's largest data centres and deliver exceptional returns for our shareholders. We’re really thankful to Burges Salmon for its excellent advice and support, Malcolm and the team did a fabulous job on this complex transaction, getting us where we needed to be with ease and clarity.”
Last year Burges Salmon was appointed as a property legal advisor for TBBR, the largest listed investor in high-quality logistics warehouse assets in the UK. Led by partners Ross Polkinghorne and Matt Sims, the firm has been working with TBBR to manage all aspects of its £5 billion logistics portfolio.