Equinix, a provider of global data centre services, has completed the acquisition of Switch and Data Facilities Company, in a transaction valued at $683.4m.
The transaction comprises of a cash payment of approximately $134m and the issuance of approximately 5.5 million shares of Equinix common stock valued at $549.4m based on the closing price of Equinix common stock as of April 30, 2010.
The company expects transaction to further strengthen its position in the global data centre services market by extending its presence to 16 new metropolitan areas across North America and by expanding the company’s regional data centre footprint from six to 22 metropolitan areas.
Equinix announced its intent to acquire Switch and Data on October 21, 2009. Equinix will integrate Switch and Data’s data centre business and operations under the Equinix brand as part of a comprehensive integration program that includes the company’s 34 data centres in 22 markets in the U.S. and Canada.
The transaction adds more than one million gross square feet of data centre capacity, bringing Equinix’s total to more than six million gross square feet, and expanding its global service delivery platform footprint to 87 IBX and partner data centres in 35 metropolitan areas across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
The transaction allows Equinix to expand into new strategic metropolitan areas, including Atlanta, Denver, Miami, Seattle and Toronto, as well as provides a platform for the future expansion of the former Switch and Data assets.
In addition, the deal expands the number of network service providers available from 410 to more than 575 providers for internet, peering, ethernet and wide area network services within Equinix IBX data centres.
Steve Smith, president and CEO of Equinix, said: “Equinix’s acquisition of Switch and Data is built on a strong, common business model and cultural fit, enabling us to extend our North American reach as a global leader of data centre services.
“This combination allows us to expand our global service delivery platform to improve the performance of critical content and applications by reducing latency. Our collective customers will clearly benefit from our commitment to extraordinary customer satisfaction as we broaden our portfolio of services together.”
