Linklaters is delighted to have won five awards at the prestigious TMT Finance M&A EMEA Awards 2025. The awards are for the firm’s outstanding work in the following categories;

• Europe Data Centre Deal of the Year
• Europe Fibre Deal of the Year
• Digital Infrastructure Legal Adviser – Value
• Digital Infrastructure Legal Adviser – Volume
• Legal Advisory Trailblazer

The year 2025 marks a period of change with new governments pursuing growth amid significant geopolitical, economic and societal challenges. In this publication, we explore the key global trends in the technology sector that we believe will shape the legal outlook for businesses in 2025 and beyond.

The article explores the growing interest in the data centre sector from real estate investors amid evolving regulatory, economic, and market dynamics. It highlights challenges such as stringent tenant requirements, energy consumption issues, and regulatory scrutiny in jurisdictions like Germany, the UK, and Ireland. As Europe and North America lead in investment values, emerging markets like the Gulf States are increasingly attracting attention.

Data centres are increasingly being targeted by real estate fund managers, as other asset classes, such as offices and retail, face more challenging environments. Globally, there are more than 50 real estate funds currently capital raising and actively seeking exposure to data centres, with a combined target size of over $50bn. According to analysis by global law firm Linklaters, 40% of this total capital is being raised specifically to invest in data centres, with the remainder being raised to invest across real estate asset classes, including data centres.

As the digital revolution continues, Asia is the red hot powerhouse for data center (“DC”) and digital infrastructure growth and investment. The Asia Pacific DC market is set to be the largest market worldwide, and significantly overtaking North America by 2025 with a total worth of $60bn by 2027. 

Global investment in data centres reached $36bn last year with $22bn invested in the first five months of this year alone, according to analysis by global law firm Linklaters, signalling robust growth in support of the digital economy.

In the first five months of 2024, $22bn was invested globally in data centres. This follows a noteworthy year of activity, 2023 witnessed a significant $36bn in global investment in data centres, marking it as the second-largest investment year in the past decade. Data analysis from global law firm Linklaters has revealed that the United States and Europe are emerging as the dominant jurisdictions.

In this publication, our tech sector lawyers from around the world explore the key global trends in the technology sector that we believe will shape the legal outlook for businesses in 2024 and beyond.

The global digital infrastructure sector saw total investment of US$149bn in 2022, with $80bn invested so far in 2023, according to analysis by global law firm Linklaters. Of this $80bn, US$16bn has been invested specifically in deals involving data centres, as investor appetite grows towards the digital world’s warehouses for data storage and processing.

The continuing confidence in data centres as an asset class means that more players are looking to invest or develop in this market. But what are the key things to think about when developing a new data centre? Our latest publication examines six key considerations when looking at data centre development in the UK market, together with comment from across the Linklaters Real Estate network on the future of data centre markets in their jurisdictions.