IREN acquires Spain's Nostrum Group, adds 490MW to its AI cloud platform
What's the deal? IREN (NASDAQ: IREN), a vertically integrated AI cloud provider, has agreed to acquire Nostrum Group (Ingenostrum, S.L.), a next-generation data centre developer based in Spain. The deal marks IREN's entry into Europe and boosts its total power portfolio to 5GW by adding roughly 490MW of secured, grid-connected power in Spain, plus an additional development pipeline.
Completion remains subject to customary closing conditions. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Why now? Demand for AI infrastructure in Europe is surging, driven in part by sovereign AI programmes across the continent. Spain offers a particularly attractive environment: favourable AI policy settings, a constructive permitting regime, strong connectivity, and abundant low-cost renewable energy.
IREN, which already operates data centres across North America and APAC, said the acquisition lets it service "observed customer demand in Europe." Nostrum brings an experienced local team spanning development, engineering, construction, and operations — capabilities that would take years to build from scratch.
What could go wrong? Cross-border data centre acquisitions carry execution risk. Integrating a Spanish team into a NASDAQ-listed company headquartered in New York means navigating different regulatory frameworks, labour markets, and energy procurement models. Grid-connection timelines in Europe can also shift, and any delays would slow IREN's ability to monetise the new capacity.
Competition is fierce, too. Hyperscalers and rival infrastructure providers are racing to lock up European power and land for AI workloads, which could drive up costs.
The signal: The deal reflects a broader trend of AI infrastructure companies expanding beyond North America as demand for GPU compute goes global. European governments are actively courting data centre investment to ensure they aren't left dependent on US-based capacity for critical AI workloads.
IREN's move from a 4.5GW-plus portfolio to 5GW — with a meaningful chunk now in Europe — shows that the land-and-power land grab underpinning AI's growth is no longer a single-continent game. Expect more acquisitions like this as infrastructure players race to plant flags in energy-rich, regulation-friendly markets worldwide.
Read more: globenewswire.com
