The all-cash transaction will include over 1,000 customers, of which over 600 are net new, and approximately three million gross square feet of data centre space. The deal accelerates Equinix’s ability to help companies extend their IT operations to the digital edge through the interconnection of people, locations, clouds and data.
“As the technological shift to digital is transforming large sections of society and the global economy, companies are re-architecting their IT infrastructure to thrive in this new environment,” said Steve Smith, CEO of Equinix.
“They are moving from traditional centralised infrastructure to a distributed model that keeps data closer to the customers, partners and employees using it. With this significant expansion of Equinix’s globally consistent footprint, our platform is even more valuable to companies that are leveraging this new model of interconnection at the digital edge.”
The acquisition of these strategic facilities further broadens Equinix’s capabilities by: strengthening interconnection density on the Equinix global platform; accelerating business relationships in the government and energy sectors; and supporting Equinix’s enterprise offering.
Three new markets (Bogotá, Culpeper and Houston) have been added. Additional capacity and the opportunity for expansion in markets where Equinix currently has a presence, including Atlanta, Denver, Miami, New York, São Paulo, Seattle and Silicon Valley.
Spread across 15 cities in North and Latin America, the new assets bring Equinix's total global footprint to over 175 International Business Exchange TM (IBX) data centers across 44 markets and approximately 17 million gross sq ft.
The Miami NAP of the Americas (NOTA) facility, known by its new Equinix IBX name as MI1, is a key interconnection point that will serve as a strategic hub and gateway for Equinix customer deployments servicing Latin America. As the fourth largest Internet exchange point in the US, it hosts the termination points of 15 subsea cable systems and more than 120 global networks interconnecting to approximately 150 countries. Combined with the newly acquired data centres in Bogotá and São Paulo, and Equinix’s substantial existing presence in Brazil, MI1 will strategically position Equinix in the growing Latin American market.
The Culpeper, Virginia facilities (CU1, CU2, CU3 and CU4) represent one of the most secure and technologically sophisticated data centre campuses in the eastern US. Approximately 250 Verizon employees, primarily in the operations functions of the 29 acquired data centres, have become Equinix employees effective 1 May 2017.
In March, Equinix and Verizon announced an agreement whereby Verizon will exclusively resell Equinix colocation and interconnection services globally. The agreement enables Verizon to pair Equinix's services with Verizon's security, network and advanced communications services to enable enterprises to build hybrid cloud solutions and gain quick access to a multi-cloud environment.
The 29 new IBX data centres are in 15 metro areas. Equinix plans to tether the new sites to existing Equinix IBX data centres within metros via Equinix’s industry-leading interconnection products, thereby expanding Equinix's core ecosystem value to customers in the newly acquired sites.
Karl Strohmeyer, president of Americas at Equinix, added: “The 29 new data centres greatly expand our ability to enable global interconnection within our robust ecosystems, as the economies of North, Central and South America continue to thrive. I am especially thrilled to welcome over 250 new employees and the hundreds of new customers to the Equinix family."
