Equinix Inc. (0.9%) (EQIX, Financial)(EQIX – $273.40 – NASDAQ), headquartered in Redwood City, CA, is a provider of global data center services, including colocation, interconnection and exchange, and outsourced IT infrastructure. The company operates in 105 IBX data centers, with approximately 11 million square feet of space, in 33 markets around the world. EQIX converted to a real estate investment trust (REIT) for U.S. federal income tax purposes effective for its taxable year commencing January 1, 2015. On May 29, 2015, EQIX finalized its offer for a Pan-European data center colocation provider, Telecity (0.2%). EQIX will pay 572.5 pence in cash and issue 0.0327 shares per Telecity share. The deal that values Telecity at ~$4.1 billion (at current prices) is expected to complement and extend EQIX’s geographic footprint in Europe (extending the company’s reach into seven new markets and strengthening its presence in four existing markets), enhance cloud and network density to better serve customers, provide meaningful cross-selling opportunities, and generate significant synergies. Deal closing is expected to take place in 1H’16. On September 8, 2015, EQIX agreed to acquire Bit-isle, one of the leading colocation data center operators in Japan for ¥922 per share, valuing Bit-isle’s equity at approximately $280 million (enterprise value of $440 million). Bit-isle is the 7th largest data center provider in Japan, with 480,000 square feet of space in six data centers (five in Tokyo and one in Osaka). Acquiring Bit-isle would make the combined company the 4th largest data center provider in Japan. The deal is expected to be accretive to EQIX AFFO per share upon close and accelerates cloud and enterprise ecosystem growth and cross-sell opportunities for the company.
From GAMCO's Global Telecommunications Fund third quarter 2015 shareholder commentary.
