Equinix acquires Australian data centers from Metronode for US$792M

Equinix agreed to acquire Metronode, an Australian data center operator, for A$1.035 billion (US$792 million) in cash.  Metronode has been fully owned by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan since December 2016.

Metronode operates two data centers in Melbourne, three in greater Sydney (including one in Illawarra), two in Perth, and one in each of Canberra, Adelaide and Brisbane. The acquired Metronode sites add approximately 20,000 square meters of gross colocation space to the Equinix footprint. Metronode also brings more than 80,000 square meters of land, 90 percent of which is owned.

In Melbourne and in Sydney, the Metronode data centers will provide a diverse, second campus for Equinix's existing properties. Both of these Metronode campuses are described as "hyperscale ready".

In Perth, Metronode's data center will house the landing station for the new Vocus Australia Singapore Cable. Equinix's existing data center in Sydney also houses the landing station for subsea cables.

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.

Equinix said the deal expands its leadership position to connect some of Australia’s largest corporations, government agencies, telecommunication, high-growth global cloud service providers and IT service providers.

The acquisition also continues Equinix’s global expansion strategy, including recent acquisitions and new construction in Washington, D.C., Silicon Valley, Singapore, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, São Paulo, and other markets.

When the deal closes in mid-2018, Equinix will have 40 data centers in Asia-Pacific and 200 data centers worldwide.

Metronode claims 100% uptime across all its 10 data centers since it began operations in 2002.