Vantage has acquired a former car engine plant in South Wales which it intends to turn into a data center campus.
The operator has bought the 1.3 million sq ft (120,000 sqm) Ford site in Bridgend, which lies to the west of Welsh capital Cardiff.
Ford stopped production at the site in 2020, and the freehold has since been marketed for sale by CBRE. AWS had previously been touted as a potential buyer.
A Vantage spokesperson told Wales Online, which first reported the news: “Vantage has acquired the former Ford engine plant in Bridgend for a future long-term development.
“As a business established in Wales since 2007 Vantage is excited by this expansion opportunity and looks forward to continuing our engagement with the Welsh and local governments creating a positive impact on the local and broader economy and workforce."
Vantage told Wales Online it was unable to provide details of what sort of facility would be located on the former engine plant, or give any timescales for development.
It already has a presence in Wales after it bought Next Generation Data, which runs a campus outside Cardiff and a site in Newport, in 2020. Microsoft Azure is a major tenant at the Newport facility.
In 2021, Vantage obtained planning permission for a new 80MW data center at the Newport site.
The US-based company has been looking to grow its presence in Europe since securing €2.5 billion ($2.67bn) in funding in October 2023.
DCD reported last week that the company is planning to build a €1 billion ($1.07bn) data campus outside Dublin, Ireland. The campus will have on-site power generation.
The Ford engine plant opened in 1980 and produced more than 22 million engines for Ford, Volvo, Jaguar, and Land Rover vehicles. The company closed it down as part of cost-cutting measures, citing falling demand for the type of engines it produced.
