Summary
- Prologis’s final proposal values SEGRO at approximately £14bn and includes a cash alternative of up to £3.5bn.
- SEGRO’s board is minded to recommend the financial terms if a formal offer is made.
- A combination would unite major European land and data centre pipelines, although no binding transaction has been completed.
SEGRO has moved closer to a takeover by Prologis after its board said it would be minded to recommend an improved proposal valuing the UK-listed property group at approximately £14 billion.
The terms offer 0.0920 new Prologis shares for each SEGRO share, alongside a partial cash alternative of up to £3.5 billion. Using the market price and exchange-rate assumptions cited by Prologis, the proposal valued each SEGRO share at approximately 1,031.7 pence.
A deadline for a firm offer has been extended to 12 August 2026. The current proposal remains conditional, and the parties have not yet published final transaction terms, regulatory conditions, or an integration programme.
Data centre land sits inside the valuation
Both groups are best known for logistics and industrial property, but data centres have become a larger part of their growth plans as powered land commands higher values in constrained European markets.
SEGRO owns the Slough Trading Estate, one of Europe’s longest-established data centre clusters, and has assembled a broader development pipeline across the continent. Prologis has also expanded its digital-infrastructure activity through land, power procurement, development work, and partnerships.
Land alone contributes little to near-term capacity unless it can obtain planning consent and a usable grid connection. Sites with secured power, an agreed substation route, and a credible delivery programme can command materially different valuations from plots that remain dependent on network reinforcement or speculative connection requests.
The portfolio’s development value will therefore depend on the status of individual projects rather than a single aggregate gigawatt figure. Power reservations, environmental permits, customer agreements, substation costs, construction phases, and the division of responsibility for technical fit-out all influence the capital required and the date at which a site can earn income.
SEGRO has argued that its development opportunity is not fully reflected in the proposed price, while Prologis has pointed to the scale and capital base it could apply to the combined portfolio. Those positions frame the central question behind the approach: how quickly the land and power pipeline can be converted into completed capacity.
Greater scale still meets local constraints
A combined company would have a larger balance sheet, broader customer relationships, and more land across major European logistics markets, but it would still depend on utilities, planning authorities, equipment manufacturers, contractors, and local political support.
Data centre buildings also require a more intensive delivery model than conventional warehouses. Even a powered shell must accommodate high-voltage connections, substations, cooling allowances, generator compounds, fibre routes, security systems, and tightly controlled commissioning interfaces.
Projects delivered as fully fitted facilities carry additional technology and leasing risk. Cooling and electrical systems ordered several years before completion must be capable of supporting the customer hardware available at handover, while the owner must decide how much capacity to build before the tenant and final rack design are fixed.
Ownership could influence which schemes advance first. A global portfolio manager may direct capital towards countries offering the strongest combination of power, planning certainty, customer demand, and returns, while sites with slow connections or more difficult permitting could be deferred.
The proposed structure also changes the route through which investors hold exposure to the portfolio. SEGRO currently offers a London-listed vehicle focused on UK and European property, whereas existing shareholders would become minority owners in a much larger US-based group if they accept Prologis shares.
The best-and-final proposal has narrowed the distance between the boards, but the data centre outcome will emerge only after a firm offer and a project-level capital plan. Power, planning, and construction remain the assets that determine which parts of the portfolio move first.
