Equinix, Inc. has completed its acquisition of 29 data centers and their operations from Verizon Communications Inc.
The U.S. $3.6 billion all cash transaction includes over 1,000 customers, of which over 600 are net new, and approximately three million gross square feet of data center space, accelerating Equinix's ability to help companies extend their IT operations to the digital edge through the interconnection of people, locations, clouds and data.
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.
Additionally, it adds three new markets (Bogotá, Culpeper and Houston) and provides 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 (IBX data centers across 44 markets and approximately 17 million gross square feet.
"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,” says Steve Smith, CEO, Equinix.
“They are moving from traditional centralized 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.”
Karl Strohmeyer, President, Americas, Equinix, says the 29 new data centers 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.”
Of the over 1,000 customers in the 29 acquired data centers, more than 600 are net new to Equinix, including Fortune 1000 companies and federal and local government entities. Verizon will become a substantially larger customer following the close of the transaction and will remain a key partner of Equinix.