Equinix pulls out of Hawaii

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 12 December 2006 02:04

IT Industry - Deals

US based Asia Pacific region data centre operator, Equinix, has sold its Hawaii data centre to a company formed by former employees to focus on more strategic markets in the US where it is planning to open three new centres.

Equinix plans to open new centres in New York, Chicago and Washington, DC where it will be opening 2007. "The Honolulu IBX was acquired several years ago as a part of Equinix's acquisition of Pihana Pacific," said Peter Van Camp, CEO of Equinix. "Removing this asset from our portfolio will enable Equinix to continue its traditional focus on top tier markets where we have ambitious expansion plans for 2007 and beyond."

In 2002 three data centre operators - Nasdaq-listed Equinix, Pihana Pacific and Singapore based ST Telemedia were merged with Pihana and ST Telemedia providing millions of dollars to wipe out Equinix's $US150 million debt and leave the combined company with ST Telemedia as its largest single shareholder (33 percent) and tens of million of dollars in cash reserves.

Equinix's Sydney data centre was also acquired in that deal, but the company has given no indication of plans to divest it and recently announced a $5 million expansion http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/6961/127/ of the centre that will increase its capacity by 50 percent and add approximately 930 square metres of floor space and 400 cabinets.

The buyer of the Honolulu centre is DR Fortress, a Hawaiian based company set up by former Equinix personnel: Jeff Brown (CEO), Fred Rodi (president), Rosa White (CFO) and Vinh Do (CTO).

The company recently completed its initial round of financing, raising more than $US11 million from a diverse group of debt and equity supporters. Institutional backers included SevenSeas Asset Management Co., AIPA Properties and First Hawaiian Bank."