Equinix completed its previously announced acquisition of Switch and Data. 
The company now operates 87 data centers in 35 strategic markets in 11 countries.
The deal was valued at $683.4 million and comprised of a cash payment of approximately $134.0 million and the issuance of approximately 5.5 million shares of Equinix common stock valued at $549.4 million. Equinix adds 34 data centers in 22 markets in the U.S. and Canada, including Atlanta, Denver, Miami, Seattle and Toronto. The transaction adds more than one million gross square feet of data center capacity, bringing Equinix's total to more than six million gross square feet. In addition, the deal expands the number of network service providers available from 410 to more than 575 providers for Internet, peering, Ethernet and wide area network (WAN) services within Equinix IBX data centers.
Equinix said its larger size will help customers respond to two broad market trends. The continued rapid growth for online information is requiring companies to reliably connect and improve the performance of their business-critical content and applications by storing and distributing latency-sensitive assets at the network edge, near local population centers. At the same time, the market compels companies to develop aggregation and distribution strategies for their digital assets in markets around the world.
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- Last month, Equinix rolled out its new multi-carrier environment for the exchange of data traffic between providers of Ethernet services. The Equinix Carrier Ethernet Exchange enables carriers to translate between different carrier Ethernet offerings to ensure transparent service by providing an interconnection technical specification. The service complies with Metro Ethernet Forum standards. The service bridges Ethernet connectivity between 24 participants, including AboveNet, BroadbandONE, Easynet Global Services, euNetworks, Exponential-e, Hibernia Atlantic, RCN Metro Optical Networks, Internet Solutions, KPN International, Level 3 Communications, PacketExchange, PCCW Global, Reliance Globalcom, SSE Telecoms, TeraGate AG, Tinet and Virgin Media Business.
The service is rolling out to five metros including the Los Angeles, New York, Silicon Valley, Chicago and London metro regions, and is expected to expand to 14 other metro regions throughout the next year.
