GRI Data Centres Europe 2025
Powered by GRI COMMERCIAL RE EUROPE 2025
18th November
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Program
Opening Talkshow I 09:00 - 10:15
Europe CRE Outlook
Capital, confidence, and what comes next
- Investment Appetite – Transactional volumes to rebound or dry-powder to remain dry?
- Pricing & Valuations – Asset repricing unlocking entry points or risk premiums still widening?
- Capital Allocation & Portfolio Winners – Where to place our bets: offices, retail, logistics, data centres…?
- Debt vs. Equity – Leaning into mezz and preferred equity or keeping the capital stack simple and senior?
- Risk & Returns – Underwriting for resilience or aiming for higher yields?
Breakout Discussion I 11:00 - 12:00
Fundraising for Data Centres
Market complexity aligned with investors´expectations?
- LP Return Expectations – Real estate income profiles or infrastructure-style long-duration returns?
- Valuation Confidence – LPs comfortable with pricing transparency or cautious in specialist markets?
- Equity Partner Profiles – Pension funds, SWFs, insurers, or infra GPs leading large cheque writing?
- Funding Mix – Shift toward open-ended platforms or preference for closed-end, project-specific capital?
- Fund Differentiation – GPs innovating to stand out in a competitive data centre fundraising market?
Breakout Discussion I 12:30 - 13:30
Data Centres Challenges
Power, regulations & the path to scale
- Power Demand – Managing soaring energy needs amid grid limitations or investing in innovative efficiency solutions?
- Energy Costs – Navigating volatile pricing impacts on data centre profitability or leveraging hedging strategies?
- Regulatory Compliance – Aligning with complex environmental and zoning laws, or facing delays and added costs?
- Technology Adaptation – Future-proofing facilities with new tech or facing obsolescence risks?
- Sustainability Reporting – Meeting evolving ESG disclosure standards or struggling with inconsistent metrics?
Breakout Discussion I 14:30 - 15:30
Strategic Partnerships in Data Centres
Win-win returns or competitive advantage at sight?
- Partner Selection – Aligning strategies for long-term value, or risking mismatched priorities?
- Risk Sharing – Effective de-risking through collaboration, or diluting control and returns?
- Capital Access – Unlocking new sources of growth, or adding layers of decision-making and approvals?
- Operational Control – Leveraging local expertise and networks, or losing strategic direction?
- Exit Strategies – Designing flexibility for changing market conditions, or locking in suboptimal outcomes?
Closing Talkshow I 16:00 - 17:00
CRE Institutional Trends
Fund flows, allocations, and performance-driven capital
- Fund Formation – Raise with scale from day one or secure anchor investors and build in phases?
- Investment Mandates – Core comfort or value-add edge?
- Capital Deployment Timing – Wait for further repricing or lean into first-mover advantage?
- Underwriting & Risk-Adjusted Returns – Staying strict on historical IRRs or adjusting to market realities?
- Structuring Preferences – Stick with commingled scale or shift to SMAs and bespoke capital?
Moderator
Alex Coulter
Real Estate Partner
Dentons
Gianlorenzo
Paolella
Head of Europe, Real Estate Investments
Korea Investment Corporation
Guilain
Decrop
Head of Continental Europe
Norges Bank Investment Management
Jenny
Hammarlund
MD, Head of Europe
Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan
Neil
Meikle
Head of Real Asset Capital Raising
Legal & General
Thomas
Jackson
Head of Europe, Real Estate
CPP Investments
Dominic Silman
Chief EconomistLaSalle Investment Management
United Kingdom
Chief Economist at LaSalle Investment Management. Strategist and researcher for real estate debt and value-add funds. PhD Econometrician and University lecturer, First-Class Honours degree in Economics with Politics. Extensive experience of teaching and using statistical analysis across multiple platforms and programming languages.
James Halstead
MD, Chief Investment Officer for European Value-Add Real EstateBlackRock
United Kingdom
James Halstead, Managing Director, is BlackRock’s Chief Investment Officer for European Value-Add Real Estate. He is responsible for investment strategy, originating and managing value add and opportunistic real estate investments across the region. He is a member of the European Real Estate Investment Committee and has invested in over $2bn of transactions at BlackRock across three European Value-Add funds.
Ronen Ribak
Head of Value-Add, Real Estate EuropeDWS
United Kingdom
Has been appointed to a newly created position as head of value-add real estate for Europe
Steven Skinner
CEOHB Reavis Group
United Kingdom
Steven Skinner is the Group CEO for HB Reavis Developments. He joined HB Reavis in 2017 responsible for developing the UK business, leading teams through acquisitions, leasing, financing, asset management and marketing. In 2018, Steven was appointed UK CEO and responsible for delivering a pipeline of developments in excess of £2bn. In 2020 he was appointed to the Group Board and in 2023 appointed Group CEO.
Paco González
Founder & PartnerCore Capital Investments
Spain
An entrepreneur since childhood, I launched my first company just after turning 18. From that moment on, I never stopped creating projects, all of them linked to technology.
I had the honor of presiding over Eurocloud for several years, both at the European and Spanish levels, and over time I began collaborating with the most prestigious business schools, first in Spain, such as The Valley or ISDI, and later internationally, such as MIT. “Technological Keys for Digitalization” has become one of the most iconic sessions in all of them.
I entered the investment world in 2017 after the sale of Cartagon to a Dutch investment fund, which I later repurchased through Core Capital, founded by me in 2020, barely three years later.
Francisco De Bergia
Investment DirectorAzora
Spain
Lars Schnidrig
Geschäftsführer / CFONexspace Data Centers
Germany
Lars Schnidrig is Managing Director of nexspace data centers, a developer and operator of data centers in the DACH region, and has been working as a Managing Director (CFO / CEO) of private equity and listed companies for many years. He started in real estate investment banking at HypoVereinsbank AG, followed by senior positions at Europe's largest housing company, Vonovia SE. Lars Schnidrig then served as CEO and CFO of a listed European asset and investment management platform. Most recently, he worked as Managing Director of a large German real estate developer.
Lars Schnidrig is a graduate economist and holds a Master's in Law (LL.M.) and a Master's in Business Administration (MBA).
Chris Rae
Co-Head of Real Estate Sector and PartnerCMS
United Kingdom
Chris Rae is Co-Head of Real Estate Sector and Partner at CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang in London. With extensive expertise in commercial real estate law, he advises major clients on complex property transactions, developments, and investments across the UK and international markets. Chris specializes in retail, office, and mixed-use developments, working with leading property companies, institutional investors, and developers. His practice encompasses acquisitions, disposals, lettings, and development projects. Known for his strategic approach and deep market knowledge, Chris has played a key role in numerous high-profile real estate deals and continues to be a trusted advisor to clients navigating the evolving property landscape in London and beyond.
Lionel Grotto
Directeur délégué en charge de la stratégie et du développementBouygues Construction
France
Son arrivée chez Bouygues Bâtiment Industrie marque une nouvelle étape dans la structuration et le développement des activités industrielles du groupe. Lionel Grotto aura pour mission d’accélérer le développement de nouveaux marchés et de renforcer les partenariats stratégiques aux échelles locale, nationale et internationale. Sa connaissance du secteur et son expertise lui permettront d’adapter l’offre de Bouygues Bâtiment Industrie aux besoins des acteurs du secteur. Il contribuera également au déploiement de projets de développement immobilier en lien avec les équipes de Linkcity.
Matthew Brown
PartnerCMS
United Kingdom
#ERROR!
Partha Sarathy
Head of Asset ManagementPictet Group
United Kingdom
Partha Sarathy serves as Head of Asset Management at Pictet Asset Management UK, bringing extensive expertise in investment management and portfolio strategy. With a distinguished career in asset management, he oversees investment operations and client solutions at one of Europe's leading independent wealth and asset managers. Sarathy's leadership focuses on delivering innovative investment strategies and maintaining Pictet's reputation for excellence in global markets. His experience spans institutional and private client asset management, contributing to the firm's growth and strategic initiatives across diverse investment portfolios and market segments.
Piotr Staniszewski
Partner | Real Estate and ConstructionDentons
Poland
Piotr Staniszewski is a partner in Dentons’ Warsaw office, a member of the Real Estate team and Co-Head of the Construction Practice Group. He focuses on real estate, corporate and commercial law.
Piotr represents foreign investors in entering the Polish real estate market, through managing construction and development projects, advising on JV or institutional acquisitions. Piotr plays a vital role in real estate investment transactions and lease projects encompassing a diverse range of assets, including data centers, offices, retail parks, mixed-use projects, hotels, warehouses and residential properties.
He advises on construction aspects of forward-funding acquisitions of build-to-rent (BTR) and student housing developments in Poland. He stands out as one of the few lawyers in Poland involved in the construction of a data center campus, a pioneering project in the local market.
Christopher Stief
CEOData Center Partners
Germany
DCP is a one-stop-shop investment boutique with a focus on colocation and hyperscale data centers, covering the entire data center lifecycle, from initial development to operations in strategic locations across the DACH region.
If you're looking for a trusted partner to support your data center needs, let's connect! I'm always open to discussing how we can help optimize your infrastructure, enhance scalability, and drive long-term success for your business.
Paco González
Founder & PartnerCore Capital Investments
Spain
An entrepreneur since childhood, I launched my first company just after turning 18. From that moment on, I never stopped creating projects, all of them linked to technology.
I had the honor of presiding over Eurocloud for several years, both at the European and Spanish levels, and over time I began collaborating with the most prestigious business schools, first in Spain, such as The Valley or ISDI, and later internationally, such as MIT. “Technological Keys for Digitalization” has become one of the most iconic sessions in all of them.
I entered the investment world in 2017 after the sale of Cartagon to a Dutch investment fund, which I later repurchased through Core Capital, founded by me in 2020, barely three years later.
Thor Johnsen
Managing PartnerDigital Gravity Infrastructure Partners
United Kingdom
Alex Coulter
Real Estate PartnerDentons
United Kingdom
Alex Coulter is a Real Estate Partner at Dentons, one of the world's largest law firms. Based in the UK, he specializes in commercial real estate transactions, development projects, and property investment matters. With extensive experience in the real estate sector, Coulter advises clients on complex property deals, including acquisitions, disposals, leasing arrangements, and joint ventures. He works with a diverse client base including property developers, investors, and occupiers across various sectors. At Dentons, Coulter is recognized for his expertise in navigating sophisticated real estate transactions and providing strategic counsel to clients throughout the property lifecycle. His practice encompasses both domestic and international real estate matters.
Gianlorenzo Paolella
Head of Europe, Real Estate InvestmentsKorea Investment Corporation
United Kingdom
Gianlorenzo Paolella serves as the Head of Europe, Real Estate Investments at Korea Investment Corporation (KIC), the South Korean sovereign wealth fund, based in London. In this role, he has been key in shaping KIC's European real estate investment strategy. KIC, under his direction, has focused on diversifying its portfolio beyond traditional offices and logistics into niche sectors such as residential, healthcare, and data centers, while also exploring new geographies within Europe. Europe remains a vital market for KIC, valued for its low volatility and downside protection in investments.
Guilain Decrop
Head of Continental EuropeNorges Bank Investment Management
United Kingdom
Guilain Decrop serves as Head of Continental Europe at Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), the investment management arm of Norway's sovereign wealth fund. In this role, he oversees the fund's investment activities and strategic initiatives across Continental European markets. NBIM manages the Government Pension Fund Global, one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds. Decrop brings extensive experience in investment management and European capital markets to his position, contributing to NBIM's mission of generating long-term returns while maintaining responsible investment practices across diverse asset classes and geographic regions.
Jenny Hammarlund
MD, Head of EuropeOntario Teachers' Pension Plan
United Kingdom
Jenny has over 20 years of real estate investment experience across Europe and has transacted over €20bn of real estate in her career. She is currently a Managing Director at H.I.G. Capital, where she is responsible for investments across various investment strategies in Western Europe. She was previously at KKR, where she was a Director focused on value-add and opportunistic investments in the UK, Germany and the Nordics. Prior to KKR, Jenny was a Director at Värde Partners in London, focused on special situations and distressed investments in Europe. She was also a Vice-President at Lehman Brothers Real Estate Partners in New York. She holds an MBA from Columbia Business School and speaks four languages.
Neil Meikle
Head of Real Asset Capital RaisingLegal & General
United Kingdom
Thomas Jackson
Head of Europe, Real EstateCPP Investments
United Kingdom
Thomas Jackson is the Managing Director and Head of Real Estate for the United Kingdom & Europe at Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), a role he assumed in July 2023. Based in London, he oversees CPPIB's real estate investments and leads the investment team across Europe and the UK. Since joining CPPIB in 2011, Jackson has been instrumental in building the European and UK real estate portfolio through joint ventures and platform investments, expanding into new sectors such as student housing, life sciences, and Built-to-Rent. His extensive experience includes leadership roles at Macquarie Capital, Jones Lang LaSalle, and BNP Paribas Real Estate. He earned a Master's degree from London South Bank University.
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Pan European Institute Partner
Institute Partner
With the largest commercial real estate team in Europe and one of the biggest worldwide, CMS is well positioned to help investors, funders, developers, landlords and occupiers navigate all aspects of the real estate market and maximise their assets. Whatever the size and scope of your project or deal, with almost 800 lawyers in 39 countries we have the resources to meet your needs quickly and ef?ciently, offering expert advice. We have been active in real estate in our markets for decades, so we understand the culture, the economic context, the local legal context and the history.
https://bit.ly/3ExhqMk
+330607164839
Levallois-Perret | Hauts-de-France | France
As a professional services company, Ayming partners with businesses and institutions around the world to unlock lasting value, year after year. With 39 years of expertise, we achieved a group revenue of €184 million in 2024 and operate across 14 countries.
Our Taxes team guides organizations through complicated tax requirements, turning them into opportunities for profit, while supporting clients in their risk management.
https://www.bakermckenzie.com/en/locations/emea/poland
+48 22 445 3100
Warsaw | Poland
Law - Construction - Real Estate – Infrastructure – Public Private Partnership – Finance – Mergers & Acquisitions – Tax – Dispute Resolution - Energy
https://buildingminds.com
+49 30 99273815
Berlin | Berlin | Germany
BuildingMinds enables owners and managers of real estate to de-risk and drive the performance of their portfolios, clear regulatory hurdles, and protect portfolio valuations across day-to-day operations now, and in the future. Its technology platform is helping some of the world’s largest organizations to transform real estate from a resource-consuming industry into a resource-generating industry. By leveraging AI to optimize decarbonization strategies, BuildingMinds’ platform offers ESG reporting solutions that ensure organizations adhere to global and local policies and standards, including upcoming regulatory changes. BuildingMinds was founded in 2019 by Schindler Group to meet the company's need for building data monitoring and management and has grown to a team of more than 150 experts across 40 countries. With over $100M in funding from Schindler and technological support from Microsoft, BuildingMinds has expanded to meet the needs of real estate managers across reporting and ESG
London | United Kingdom
Climate X is a climate risk data provider with the world’s only fully integrated climate risk platform, helping financial institutions manage and build resilience to climate change impacts on the built environment. They provide climate financial risk data to global asset managers and banks, safeguarding economic stability against climate risks.
Climate X’s innovative solutions (Spectra and Adapt) enable investors and portfolio managers to address climate challenges, manage investments, and retrofit structures for a sustainable future.
http://www.colliers.com
+39 02 6716 0201
Milan | Lombardia | Italy
Società di Gestione del Risparmio (SGR) indipendente, cioè non controllata da alcun gruppo finanziario.Edit: SponsorProfileforBrochure__c
https://www.dentons.com/en/global-presence/europe
+44 20 7242 1212
London | United Kingdom
Dentons is the world's largest law firm, delivering quality and value to clients around the globe. Dentons is a leader on the Acritas Global Elite Brand Index, a BTI Client Service 30 Award winner and recognized by prominent business and legal publications for its innovations in client service, including founding Nextlaw Enterprise, Dentons’ wholly owned subsidiary of innovation, advisory and technology operating units. Dentons' polycentric approach, commitment to inclusion and diversity and world-class talent challenge the status quo to advance client interests in the communities in which we live and work. www.dentons.com.
https://us.gleeds.com/
+33 (0)1 40 38 64 24
Paris | France
Gleeds is a leading global property and construction consultancy. Independent since 1885, we are proud to deliver award-winning projects around the world.
http://www.azora.es/
+34 913 106 370
Madrid | Madrid | Spain
AZORA is an independent private equity styled asset manager of real assets, based in Spain but investing across Europe and the USA. It currently manages €9.2 bn of AuM (once its various vehicles committed firepower is fully invested) with Hospitality and Living representing c. 70% of this. AZORA has a value-add approach with a strong track record in pioneering new assets classes in Southern Europe and a special expertise in building fully integrated platforms in operational assets classes.
Paris | France
Navigating debt, corporate and capital markets has never been more complex. Increasing regulation, complexity and rapid technological change mean that you need to act fast to seize business opportunities and adapt quickly to changing situations or environments.
We abide by regulations set out by the Capital Market Authority, so you can trust us to deal with any eventuality efficiently and cost-effectively. Our capital markets offering ranges from corporate services to debt capital market offerings such as securitisation and loan administration.
http://www.jll.fr
+33 1 4055 1515
Paris | France
For over 200 years, JLL (NYSE: JLL), a leading global commercial real estate and investment management company, has helped clients buy, build, occupy, manage and invest in a variety of commercial, industrial, hotel, residential and retail properties. A Fortune 500® company with annual revenue of $20.9 billion and operations in over 80 countries around the world, our more than 103,000 employees bring the power of a global platform combined with local expertise. Driven by our purpose to shape the future of real estate for a better world, we help our clients, people and communities SEE A BRIGHTER WAYSM. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit jll.com.
https://numastays.com/
+4915258762883
Berlin | Germany
NUMA Group is Europe’s leading digital hospitality platform. The company offers innovative design apartments and studios for modern travelers. As a reliable partner for investors, owners, and developers, NUMA Group uses proprietary technology-based operator solutions that largely automate operational processes and increase cost efficiencies and revenues. NUMA Group successfully operates more than 4,500 units in European A-cities, including Berlin, Munich, Rome, Milan, Madrid, Barcelona, Vienna.
http://www.vistra.com
+48 22 379 9440
Warsaw | Poland
Our purpose is progress.
Vistra is a leading provider of essential business services to help companies and private capital funds grow across the entire business and investment lifecycle.
Here at Vistra, our purpose is progress. As a close ally to our clients, we exist to remove the friction that comes from the complexity of global business – to help our clients achieve progress without friction. We partner with companies and private capital managers along the corporate and private capital lifecycle. From HR to tax and from legal entity management to regulatory compliance, we quietly fix the operational and administrative frustrations that hamper business growth. With over 9,000 experts in more than 50 markets, we can accelerate progress, improve processes, and reduce risk, wherever your ambition takes you.
https://www.yardreaas.it/en/services/all-services
+39 02 7780701
milano
Yard Reaas is an independent group, a leader in Italy in real estate consultancy and integrated management of real estate services.The Group operates both in the institutional market and in the distressed segment for Italian and foreign investors, banks, asset management companies/funds, industrial groups, private equity and family office funds. It boasts over 30 years of experience in technical (due diligence, project management, project monitoring), environmental, ESG, valuation, and property & building management sectors. It counts around 300 internal resources, a network of 550 technicians, approximately 1,000 appraisers on the territory, and over € 60 million in revenue.
Its activities involve single properties or entire portfolios, with reference to all asset classes (office, retail, industrial/logistics, residential, hospitality, healthcare, sport and infrastructures, etc.).
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