- Retelit Datacenter is the data center platform of Retelit, the leading Italian Telco and ICT operator focused on the B2B market, owned by Asterion Industrial Partners and offering connectivity, cloud and co-location and interconnection services to telecom operators, enterprises, public administrations and tier-2 hyperscalers.
- The transaction is a mini-perm project financing split across several credit lines.
UniCredit and ING have structured a EUR 375 million mini-perm project financing in favor of Retelit Datacenter, the Retelit datacenter hub which is the dominant interconnection platform in Italy counting 38 datacenters including Avalon Campus in Milan.
The loan is intended to support Retelit's growth plan in order to expand the current 18MW perimeter through the construction of 3 new data centers in Milan and Rome for a total additional capacity of 27 MW. These investments will further reinforce Italy's position as a strategic Southern European gateway for low‑latency connectivity, cloud adoption and the accelerating uptake of AI‑driven services.
The financing package consists of a €135 million term loan facility, a €225 million Capex investment facility, and a €15 million revolving credit facility. It attracted strong interest from a broad syndicate of lenders, including both leading Italian institutions and major international banks, reflecting confidence in Retelit's strategy and the resilient fundamentals of the interconnection data center market.
Asterion Industrial Partners, the majority shareholder of Retelit, continues to demonstrate a strong commitment to Italy's digital transformation. In recent years, Retelit has accelerated investment across the country, including the acquisition of Irideos in 2022, the purchase of British Telecom's Italian digital domestic infrastructure (11k km of fibre network and a portfolio of DCs with 10 MW total capacity) and the signing of a preliminary agreement for the acquisition of a 30% stake in Sparkle (international services arm of TIM Group, majority-owned by MEF, closing expected by H1 2016).
Through this innovative bespoke project financing, Retelit aims to further accelerate its growth strategy, enlarging its high-value infrastructure targeting strategic targets like Milan, the most interconnected hub in Italy, and Rome, supporting critical digital infrastructure demand coming from government, public sector entities enterprises and global telco, Media and OTT operators.
Retelit is fully committed to energy efficiency and sustainability. Indeed, 100% of the energy used by Retelit data centers comes from renewable sources which significantly reduces GHG emissions, and most of Retelit IT power infrastructure has a PUE ("Power Usage Effectiveness") lower than the market benchmark.
The transaction was originated, structured and coordinated by UniCredit and ING in their capacity as Structuring Banks, Debt Advisors, Global Coordinators & Bookrunners, leading the syndication effort towards a successful closing. ING Italy also acted as Facility Agent.
Marco Bortoletti, Regional Manager Lombardia at UniCredit, stated: "We are delighted to support Retelit in this significant transaction. The strong response from both domestic and international lenders underscores the quality of the project and the increasing depth of Italy's digital infrastructure market. Acting as Global Coordinator, UniCredit is proud to have led a transaction that will expand national data‑center capacity and underpin the country's technological development in the years ahead, thus contributing to the digital transition, paramount to corporates' competitiveness".
Andrea Diamanti, CEO and Head of Wholesale Banking at ING Italy, stated: "ING has long been recognized as a pioneer in data center financing, with over 200 transactions closed globally. The growth strategy for the Wholesale Banking division in Italy enables us to successfully support companies operating in the Tech, Media and Telecommunications sector across the country, ultimately benefitting Italian's technological development. ING global network plays a pivotal role in our strategy, as confirmed by this important transaction which involved the collaboration of both Italian and Dutch ING teams."
TEAM & ADVISORS
DLA Piper Italia supported the Lenders as Legal Advisor, while Retelit has been assisted by Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP as Legal Advisor for financing documentation.
Milan, 19 March 2026
Enquires:
Media Relations mediarelations@unicredit.eu