SEB Bank lends EUR 30 million to Baltic Rezo for the development of sustainable telecommunications infrastructure in the Baltic States

SEB Bank has granted a EUR 30 million 10-year loan to Baltic Rezo, a company owned by Quaero European Infrastructure Fund II (QEIF II), which invests in infrastructure projects across Europe. The company will use the loan to further expand its Baltic telecommunication infrastructure focusing on data centres and fibre-optic networks.

“Digital-intensive work and life are reflected in the ever-increasing amount of data being generated, which is projected to grow by around a fifth annually in the near future. As more and more information is generated by businesses, which are becoming increasingly data-intensive, the development of internet and telecommunications technology infrastructure is essential to store, access and manage the ever-increasing volume of data. The loan granted by SEB Bank will therefore help build this important infrastructure in the Baltic States and accelerate the sustainable digital transformation of our societies and businesses,” says Vilius Juzikis, Member of Management Board and Head of Corporate Banking.

The loan from SEB Bank will mainly finance the expansion of Baltic Rezo’s data centre in Riga, Latvia, which will be one of the most sustainable data centres in the region, as well as further expansion of its data centres in Vilnius, Lithuania, and its fibre-optic networks.    

The data centre under construction will be highly energy efficient. It will have a power usage effectiveness (PUE) coefficient of less than 1.3, which indicates how efficiently a data centre uses electricity to keep its IT equipment running smoothly. The entire data center is built using the latest and most efficient technologies in order to be able to provide the growing data center power needs, including hyperscaler. The data centre will run entirely on electricity from renewable sources. The back-up power for the centre will be provided by generators using Neste MY diesel, a hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) produced from renewable raw materials. 

The data centre will have Tier III certification for design documents and constructed facility from Uptime Institute, an international certification organisation, which certifies that the centre’s facilities, engineering infrastructure and the availability of the entire data centre meet the highest international standards.

“We remain firmly committed to the Baltic States and building the demanded critical infrastructure that is of top quality, efficient and environmentally neutral. We are glad to establish a banking relationship with SEB Bank to support us in this long-term commitment,” says Sébastien Bourget, the Managing Partner of Quaero Capital.

SUMMA Advisers, an investment banking services firm, acted as financial advisor to Baltic Rezo in the transaction. The company was advised on legal issues by law firm Ellex Valiunas.

QEIF II is a €600 million infrastructure fund managed by Quaero Capital, an independent asset management firm based in Geneva, Switzerland. The fund invests in infrastructure projects in sectors such as renewable energy, social infrastructure, telecommunications, utilities, and transport infrastructure projects.