Equinix has entered into an agreement with Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan to acquire all of the equity interests in the Metronode group of companies, an Australian data center business, in an all-cash transaction for A$1.035 billion, or approximately US$792 million. Metronode is a leading data center provider operating facilities throughout Australia, housing mission-critical internet and communications infrastructure for some of Australia's largest corporations, government agencies, telecommunications and IT service providers. Metronode generated approximately A$60 million, or approximately US$46 million, of revenues in the 12 months ending September 30, 2017, with a margin profile accretive to the Equinix Asia-Pacific business. The acquisition agreement was signed on December 15, 2017, and the transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2018, subject to some closing conditions including regulatory approval.
The acquisition of Metronode will further strengthen the leadership position of Equinix in the Asia-Pacific region and support its ongoing global expansion. As a result of the transaction, Equinix will expand its national footprint by adding 10 data centers, strengthening its position in Sydney and Melbourne, and adding a presence in Perth, Canberra, Adelaide and Brisbane, four new metros to the Equinix global platform. This will bring the company's total International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data center footprint in Australia to 15 data centers, further extending its global ecosystem coverage and enabling customers to deploy their infrastructure, applications and services closer to the edge.
