Equinix Completes $683.4 Million Acquisition Of Switch And Data

Equinix, a provider of global data center services, announced completion of its acquisition of Switch and Data Facilities Company, Inc. in a transaction valued at $683.4 million.

The transaction further strengthens Equinix's leadership position in the global data center services market by extending the company's presence to 16 new metropolitan areas across North America and by expanding the company's regional data center footprint from six to 22 metropolitan areas, providing expansion opportunities for Equinix's growing global base of customers, according to the release.

"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 center services.

This combination allows us to expand our global service delivery platform to improve the performance of critical content and applications by reducing latency," said Steve Smith, president and CEO of Equinix. "Our collective customers will clearly benefit from our commitment to extraordinary customer satisfaction as we broaden our portfolio of services together.

The completed acquisition will help customers respond to two broad market trends, Equinix said.

The continued rapid growth for online information is requiring companies to reliably connect and improve the performance of their business-critical content and applications by storing and distributing latency-sensitive assets at the network edge, near local population centers. At the same time, the market compels companies to develop aggregation and distribution strategies for their digital assets in markets around the world.

The transaction is expected to give Equinix customers broader access to local markets throughout North America for their network edge deployments. Former Switch and Data customers can now benefit from global data center services that provide extended market reach and enable interconnected business ecosystems.

Equinix announced its intent to acquire Switch and Data on October 21, 2009. Equinix will integrate Switch and Data's data center business and operations under the Equinix brand as part of a comprehensive integration program that includes the company's 34 data centers in 22 markets in the U.S. and Canada.

The transaction adds more than one million gross square feet of data center 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 centers in 35 metropolitan areas across North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

The transaction allows Equinix to immediately 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 (WAN) services within Equinix IBX data centers.

Melanie Rodier has worked as a print and broadcast journalist for over 10 years, covering business and finance, general news, and film trade news. Prior to joining Wall Street & Technology in April 2007, Melanie lived in Paris, where she worked for the International Herald ... View Full Bio