Orange and Morrison line up a $3.4B data center venture in France

Orange and the Morrison Fund are setting up a joint venture worth $3.4 billion for data centers in France. Europe wants sovereign compute - France is responding with a telco flavor + infrastructure fund.

In plain terms - Orange and Morrison team up on a $3.4B French data center venture. Orange contributes five existing sites across four campuses. Europe wants sovereign compute - France gets a telco-plus-infrastructure-fund flavor of it.

Le fait

Orange (historical French telecom operator) and Morrison (infrastructure fund) announce on July 27, 2026, a joint venture of $3.4 billion to develop data centers in France (Tech in Asia). Orange brings five data centers spread across four campuses in France - this is not a pure greenfield, but a consolidation-plus-expansion. The details (cumulative MW capacity, expansion schedule, target clients) have not been made public in the initial coverage.

Notre lecture

Three signals in one deal. French sovereignty: the French DC fabric remains dominated by US players (Equinix, Digital Realty); Orange positions an assumed national foot, in line with the government's sovereignty discourse. Long money: Morrison brings an infrastructure fund ticket - cost of patient capital, different from VC. Timing: the deal comes at a time when the European grid is tightening (Irish moratoriums, Dutch restrictions) - implicit bet that France still has a usable nuclear reserve for AI.

À surveiller

• The cumulative MW capacity of the five sites brought in and the expansion schedule.
• The anchored clients - US hyperscaler, sovereign (Mistral, LightOn), European?
• The promised electrical connection for the new capacities and its real schedule.