Israel's Azrieli expands data centre business with London deal

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Azrieli Group is buying an unnamed London data centre operator for 52 million pounds ($64 million), the Israeli real estate developer said on Sunday.

The centre has lease agreements with customers for an average term of about five years, Azrieli.

Azrieli, one of Israel's largest mall operators, also said it was buying an adjacent plot of land and that both plots present future development and construction potential.

This deal is the next step in Azrieli's expansion in the data centre sector, it said, adding that London is the world's second-largest data centre market.

Azrieli last year bought Norway's Green Mountain AS, which operates server farms, for 7.6 billion Krone ($822 million).

"Our vision is to continue developing gradually into several more international markets, and London is the ideal location from which to continue developing our data centre platform," said Azrieli Chairwoman Danna Azrieli.

The company noted that its data centre operations account for 12% of the group's business.

($1 = 0.8155 pounds)

($1 = 3.4081 shekels)

(Reporting by Steven Scheer; Editing by David Goodman)