Data center services provider Equinix has agreed to acquire Switch & Data Facilities Company, a provider of data center and internet exchange services, for approximately $689m in cash and stock, to strengthen Equinix's position in the global data center services market by extending its presence to 16 new markets across North America. Skip related content
Under the deal expected to close in the first quarter of 2010, Equinix will integrate Switch and Data's data center business and operations, including 34 data centers in 22 markets in the US and Canada. The acquisition will bring Equinix's total global footprint to 79 data centers in 34 markets and more than six million square feet across the North American, European and Asia-Pacific markets. It will also allow the company to expand into Atlanta, Denver, Miami, Seattle and Toronto.
Steve Smith, president and CEO at Equinix, said: "Our complementary business models, coupled with Switch and Data's broad North American market coverage, provide a platform for strong growth as well as an opportunity to accommodate our customers' demands for additional services."
Last month, Equinix announced plans to build a 152,000 square foot International Business Exchange (IBX) data center in the DC area, and a 170,000 square foot IBX data center in Silicon Valley as part of its 2009 expansion plan that includes increasing the data center footprint in 10 out of the 18 markets where it had operations. In August, it opened a $95m IBX center in Los Angeles.
