Orange, Morrison Forge €3 Billion French Data Center Venture to Power AI Boom

French telecoms operator Orange (ORA.PA) and global infrastructure investor Morrison are joining forces to build a massive data center platform in France, aiming to capture surging demand for artificial intelligence and cloud computing. The companies confirmed on Monday they have entered into exclusivity to form a 50-50 joint venture, targeting a colossal 400 megawatts of capacity.

The partnership, backed by a €3 billion ($3.41 billion) investment program, marks a dramatic scale-up from Orange's current footprint. The new entity will combine Orange's existing French data center assets with Morrison's equity funding and additional debt to construct what is intended to be a cornerstone of European sovereign digital infrastructure.

Orange will contribute five major data centers located across four strategic campuses in France: Chevilly-Larue, Aubervilliers, Chartres, and Val-de-Reuil. Morrison will inject equity capital from its global value-add strategy, leveraging its deep experience in infrastructure and data center investments to fuel the platform's aggressive growth.

The scale of the ambition is underscored by the capacity target. The 400-megawatt goal represents nearly ten times the current capacity of the assets Orange is bringing to the table. This expansion is designed to meet the intensive power and cooling demands of next-generation AI workloads and cloud services.

"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.

Under the proposed structure, Orange Business will serve as the exclusive partner for distributing colocation and hosting offers to large enterprises, small and medium-sized businesses, and public-sector entities across the country. The joint venture is designed to function as the foundational layer for Orange Business's expanding suite of cloud and AI solutions. Critically, Orange will maintain operational control over dedicated areas within the data centers that host its own platforms and services.

William Smales, Chief Investment Officer at Morrison, emphasized the broader continental implications. "Europe’s digital future will require significant new investment in trusted infrastructure capable of supporting the growth of cloud services, artificial intelligence and data-intensive applications," Smales said.

The financial architecture of the venture involves a blend of Orange's contributed assets, direct equity funding from Morrison, and debt financing. Upon closing, the joint venture will be accounted for under the equity method. The companies anticipate signing the definitive transaction agreement by the end of 2026, with completion expected in the first quarter of 2027, pending standard regulatory approvals and consultations with employee representative bodies.

The move comes as European nations race to build out domestic computing capacity to reduce reliance on US-based cloud giants and ensure data sovereignty. France, in particular, has been actively courting investment in digital infrastructure to position itself as a leading AI hub. The Orange-Morrison venture directly addresses the bottleneck in high-capacity, trusted facilities required to train and run large-scale AI models.

For Orange, the deal allows it to unlock significant capital from its real estate assets while retaining strategic control and securing long-term hosting capacity for its own operations. For Morrison, it provides a large-scale entry point into the fast-growing European data center market with a blue-chip strategic partner.

The venture will compete with other major data center operators expanding aggressively in Europe, but its specific focus on "sovereign" and "trusted" infrastructure targets a growing segment of government and enterprise clients with strict data residency and security requirements. The successful completion of the deal would represent one of the largest dedicated telecom-data center partnerships in the region.