Orange and infrastructure investor Morrison said on Monday they have entered an exclusivity agreement to create a jointly controlled data centre company in France. The proposed vehicle would be owned equally by both partners and aims to grow Orange’s domestic data centre capacity to 400 megawatts, a level described as nearly ten times its current footprint.
Under the arrangement, Orange will contribute five major data centres spanning four campuses in France - Chevilly-Larue, Aubervilliers, Chartres and Val-de-Reuil - together with its operational expertise and commercial reach. Morrison will supply its infrastructure and data centre investment experience and commit equity under its global value-add strategy to support the platform’s growth.
The partners said the new platform would be supported by an investment program totalling 3 billion. That program will be funded through a combination of Orange’s contributed assets, Morrison equity and debt financing. Once the target structure is finalised and the deal closes, the joint venture would be accounted for under the equity method.
Orange Business is expected to act as the exclusive distributor of colocation and hosting offers from the platform to large enterprises, small and medium-sized businesses and public-sector customers. The platform is also intended to serve as a foundation for Orange Business’s cloud and artificial intelligence solutions, with Orange’s own platforms and services remaining hosted in the joint venture’s facilities.
Orange will retain operational control over the portions of the data centres dedicated to its own operations, the companies said.
"We are absolutely convinced that France will need sovereign, trusted digital infrastructure if it is to rise to the challenge of surging demand driven by cloud and artificial intelligence," said Christel Heydemann, Chief Executive Officer of the Orange group.
William Smales, Chief Investment Officer at Morrison, added: "Europes digital future will require significant new investment in trusted infrastructure capable of supporting the growth of cloud services, artificial intelligence and data-intensive applications."
The transaction signing is expected by the end of 2026, subject to consultation with relevant employee representative bodies and receipt of required regulatory approvals. Closing is anticipated in the first quarter of 2027.
Market indicators included brief share movement notations following the announcement, with ORAN up 1.58% and NZMOR up 0.44% at the time of reporting.
The proposed platform would extend Oranges footprint across key French campuses and would combine the operatorship of a longstanding telecoms player with external infrastructure investment to pursue a significant scale-up in capacity. The arrangements outlined leave Orange in control of its own operational spaces while opening broader commercial distribution through Orange Business for third-party customers.