PARIS (Reuters) – French telecommunications operator Orange and infrastructure investor Morrison have announced plans to establish a joint venture aimed at significantly expanding data centre capacity in France to meet growing demand for artificial intelligence and cloud computing services.
The companies said the proposed 50-50 joint venture will target 400 megawatts of data centre capacity, nearly 10 times Orange's current capacity.
The expansion will be backed by a €3 billion investment programme combining Orange's existing data centre assets, equity funding from Morrison and debt financing.
Under the proposed agreement, Orange will contribute five data centres in France to the new venture, while Morrison will provide the equity capital needed to support the platform's future growth.
The companies expect to sign the transaction by the end of 2026, with completion targeted for the first quarter of 2027, subject to regulatory and other required approvals.