Dive Brief:
- JLL has agreed to acquire data center technical and project management services firm SKAE Power Solutions.
- The deal will add technical depth to JLL’s existing offerings and combine SKAE’s 75 employees with JLL Work Dynamics’ existing data center vertical to form a new technical services division. The division will operate as SKAE, a JLL company, and will be led by SKAE co-founder Peter Skae, who will report to Matt Landek, Americas Managing Director for Data Centers at JLL.
- “The technical services division will help strengthen our position as demand for data center solutions increases,” Sanjay Rishi, Americas CEO of Work Dynamics at JLL, told Facilities Dive in an email. “SKAE’s solutions enhance the services we currently provide at JLL with new, technical capabilities to address the entire lifecycle of a data center. I’m excited about the prospects of what Matt Landek and Peter Skae will build together with the formation of this specialized technical services group.”
Dive Insight:
The rapid adoption of AI and machine learning is prompting a “fundamental shift” in data center design, site selection and investment approach, JLL said in the release. Consumers and businesses are expected to generate twice as much data in the next five years than was created over the past decade, with expectations that data center storage capacity will skyrocket from 10.1 zettabytes in 2023 to 21 ZB in 2027, according to the firm’s 2024 Global Data Center Outlook.
“Amid surging demand driven by AI and IoT, data centers have been an area of focus across JLL for several years, and our acquisition of SKAE Power Solutions marks the next step in our growing expertise,” Rishi said.
“This acquisition immediately enhances our ability to expertly support our clients' data center solutions now, and into the future,” Neil Murray, CEO of Work Dynamics at JLL, said in a release Wednesday.
Founded by Skae and John McPartland in 1998, SKAE delivers technical data center services to the finance, healthcare, education and government industries across the U.S. The company is headquartered in Palisades, New York, with offices in Philadelphia and Boston.
SKAE’s engineering and field services include establishing design criteria, electrical system studies, power-quality analysis, site surveys and preparation of as-built electrical drawings, while its facilities management team provides property management services to more than a dozen companies in New York, with over 1 million square feet of space under management, according to the company’s website.
The firm’s expertise in planning and engineering, installation of critical infrastructure, testing, facilities management and operations will enhance JLL’s ability to support clients with data center site selection, design, testing and commissioning, upgrades and operations management, JLL said.
The transaction is “directly aligned with global JLL Work Dynamics strategies to shape and address current and future client needs through capability, innovation and investment,” Rishi said, noting that the acquisition will immediately expand the firm’s ability the deliver data center solutions to clients and prospects.
The deal is slated to wrap shortly, subject to customary closing conditions, JLL said.
