Equinix to Acquire European Data Center Provider IXEurope in $482m Deal
Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), the leading provider of network-neutral data centers and Internet exchange services, announced its firm intention to make an offer for the entire issued share capital of IXEurope Plc (IXEurope, AIM: IXE), a provider of colocation services in Europe. The acquisition comes as Equinix is in the midst of a more than $450 million expansion program in the
Equinix will integrate IXEuropes network-neutral data center business and operations under the Equinix brand. IXEuropes business includes 14 data centers comprising more than 380,000 square feet of net sellable space throughout Europe, including centers in
With the addition of IXEurope to Equinixs announced expansions, Equinix will have a total footprint of more than three million square feet of data center space across 17 markets in the
The acquisition will allow Equinix to immediately expand into the European market, and it will enable Equinix to provide customers with a single-source global solution for their data center and network connectivity services. Despite the differences of the European market and the existence of multiple network-neutral players in the market, this acquisition offers Equinix a variety of benefits as the company builds upon its market leadership in the
According to Tier 1 Research, global demand has outpaced supply by a factor of nearly three to one over the last 12 months. The European supply and demand imbalance is more than double the global rate with demand outpacing supply by a factor of more than six to one.
The strategic acquisition of IXEurope by Equinix will solidify Equinixs position as the worlds market leading colocation provider with high-quality data centers across the
Since its launch in 1999, IXEuropes management has successfully established 14 IXDatacentres in four countries (4 IXDatacentres since its initial public offering in 2006), providing colocation services to many blue-chip, international customers, said Guy Willner, CEO of IXEurope. The combination of IXEuropes European reach and operational expertise with Equinixs existing global operations will further extend Equinix's market leading position and allow it to further leverage the tremendous growth opportunities that exist in the colocation market worldwide.
The current management team, including Guy Willner, IXEurope CEO, and Christophe de Buchet, IXEurope COO, will join Equinix and continue to operate the European business. Equinix and IXEurope will assemble an integration team comprised of senior managers to ensure a seamless integration. Equinixs European regional headquarters will be located in
Financial Terms of the Transaction
The acquisition and related transaction costs are being financed out of Equinix corporate cash reserves and unsecured debt financing under committed facilities from Citigroup.
Under the terms of the acquisition, IXEurope shareholders will receive 125 pence, or approximately $2.50 per share in cash (at current exchange rates), for each IXEurope share held at the Scheme Record Time, valuing the existing issued share capital of IXEurope at approximately £241 million, or $482 million.
The Directors of IXEurope have agreed to recommend that IXEurope shareholders vote in favor of the resolutions to approve the Offer at the relevant shareholder and court meetings. Primary Shareholders representing in aggregate, 120,460,826 issued IXEurope Shares, (representing approximately 67 percent of the existing issued share capital of IXEurope) have agreed, subject to customary limitations, to vote in favor of the Offer at the relevant court and shareholder meetings.
Equinix will hold an investor conference call today at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time (5:00 a.m. Pacific Time) to discuss the details of this announcement. To hear the conference call, please dial 773-799-3263 (domestic and international) at 7:50 a.m. (ET) and reference the passcode (EQIX). A simultaneous live Webcast of the call will be available over the Internet at www.equinix.com, under the Investor Relations heading.
A replay of the call will be available beginning on Thursday, June 28, 2007, at 11:00 a.m. (ET) through July 30, 2007 by dialing 203-369-3287. In addition, the Webcast will be available on the company's Web site at www.equinix.com. No password is required for either method of replay.
About Equinix
Equinix is the leading global provider of network-neutral data centers and Internet exchange services for enterprises, content companies, systems integrators and network services providers. Through the companys Internet Business Exchange (IBX®) centers in 10 markets in the
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