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Rockpool invests GBP10m in Aegis Data

Rockpool Investments has invested GBP10m in Aegis Data, a data centre park in the UK.

This is the largest investment Rockpool has made since it opened for business in 2011 and it brings the total invested by Rockpool to GBP50m.
 
It is also the first time Aegis Data has raised outside funding – made up of EIS qualifying shares and a secured loan.
 
Specifically, this investment will enable Aegis Data to complete the fit-out of Aegis One, a 30,000 square foot state of the art data centre facility on Aegis Data’s brand new 10 Megavolt Amperes (MVA) Surrey Data Park in Godalming. Aegis One starts operating as a secure enterprise class data centre facility in Q2 2014. The facility was officially opened in January this year by the Rt. Honourable Jeremy Hunt MP for South West Surrey and Secretary of State for Health. 
 
Rockpool's investment will also help facilitate Aegis's future growth, with planned construction of a second (42,000 sq ft) data centre facility on the same site. Aegis Two has already been granted planning permission.
 
Matt Taylor, founder and managing partner of Rockpool Investments, says, “At just short of GBP10m, this is Rockpool's largest investment to date. It's also one of the biggest investments ever made by a private investor network in the UK, so it’s a real landmark in the growth of crowd-funding as an alternative to banks and traditional private equity funds. I think that equity investors were attracted by the high level of tangible assets combined with the generous tax reliefs under the Enterprise Investment Scheme. The equity part of the deal was over-subscribed, bringing the total equity investment near to the new GBP5m cap on EIS issues. There was also strong demand for the secured loan element of the deal.”
 
Gerald Pawsey, CEO, Aegis Data, says: “We are delighted that Rockpool has made this investment, securing rapid growth for one of the most technologically advanced data centre parks in the UK today. Rockpool was chosen because of the enthusiasm and understanding the team demonstrated towards our business goals – to provide future-proofed environments that are not only highly secure and resilient for our customers’ mission critical data, but importantly ultra-efficient in terms of power and cooling.  With real-time monitoring and reporting we help customers better understand their data centre usage, thereby empowering their decision making and adding significant value.”
 
More than 200 members of Rockpool's 500-strong investor network have taken part in the Aegis investment. Some of these investors are members of the Rockpool Network and some are investing via IFAs or via private banks (portfolio services).  
 
Rockpool operates a hybrid model that takes elements from crowdfunding, in that people can invest directly in private companies, but the company also employs a team of private equity professionals who carry out due diligence on all companies before they are offered up as investment opportunities for Rockpool's network of investors.

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