BackLuxembourg / Marseille, 23 September 2026 – Marguerite, a pan-European infrastructure investor, has invested in PHOCEA DC, a French provider of sovereign and sustainable data centres based in Marseille. The transaction, via the Marguerite III fund, was completed in early August 2026.
Founded in 2023, PHOCEA DC opened its first data centre in Marseille in January 2025. The 1.2 MW, Tier 3 facility provides certified hosting services to local authorities, healthcare institutions, businesses, telecom operators and managed service providers.
Marguerite’s equity investment, complemented by bank financing, will support an investment plan of more than €120 million to develop a network of edge data centres across Marseille. The construction of a second site is expected to start shortly.
Marguerite’s decision to invest in PHOCEA DC reflects confidence in the company’s management team and in the growing demand for sovereign, low-latency digital capacity in Marseille, one of the world’s leading digital hubs with sixteen submarine cables landing in the city.
“This financing is not about piling up megawatts,” said Damien Desanti, Founder and CEO of PHOCEA DC. “It will, however, allow us to demonstrate, site after site, that a data centre can be located in the heart of a city without imposing on it, by rehabilitating disused land, sharing the produced heat with residents and businesses, while keeping local data under sovereign control. We are pleased to welcome Marguerite, a long-term infrastructure investor that shares our vision, as we enter this next stage.”
Commenting on the investment, Michael Dedieu, Co-CEO of Marguerite, said: “We are delighted to support PHOCEA DC and its founder, Damien Desanti, in this new phase of growth. PHOCEA DC’s data centres meet a real need across Europe for sovereign, resource-efficient digital capacity acceptable for local stakeholders. This investment builds on Marguerite’s long-standing experience in digital infrastructure, including data centres, optic fibre networks and submarine cables. We look forward to working closely with the team to support the company’s growth.”
Cambon Partners (M&A) and Willkie (legal) advised PHOCEA DC and the founder. Ropes & Gray (legal), PMP Strategy (commercial), Via-DC (technical & ESG), PWC (financial & tax) and Marsh (insurance) acted as advisers to Marguerite.
Marguerite is a pan-European investor in growth infrastructure. Our funds seek out capital-intensive, sustainable investment opportunities with a particular focus on four sectors: (1) Energy & renewables, (2) Digital transformation, (3) Transport, and (4) Circular economy and Water.
Marguerite manages four European infrastructure funds, with our most recent being Marguerite III, and we’ve deployed in excess of €2 billion into projects designed to address the changing infrastructure landscape in Europe by integrating ESG principles and creating positive change for society.
Marguerite III benefits from support from the European Union under the InvestEU Fund.
From our origins in 2010 as an independent infrastructure investment manager backed by the European Investment Bank and the main European national promotional banks, we have evolved into a fund manager dedicated to generating value for investors while integrating robust ESG screening as part of our eligibility criteria and continuously measuring the positive impact of our investments. We are signatories of the Net Zero Asset Managers (NZAM) initiative and commit to aligning our portfolio with net zero emissions pathways by 2050 or sooner.
Our team is based in Luxembourg, Paris and Milan.