ViaWest Acquires Dataside

Colocation and managed hosting provider ViaWest has acquired Dataside in a deal that brings together two fast-growing regional players in the data center market. ViaWest is based in Denver, and has facilities in Portland, Oregon and Salt Lake City. It will now add Dataside's seven data centers - five in the Dallas market and one apiece in Austin and Las Vegas.

With the Dataside acquisition, ViaWest's annualized revenue will exceed $100 million by the fourth quarter of 2008, the company said. ViaWest will immediately invest in the expansion of Dataside's existing facilities in Austin, Dallas, and Las Vegas to meet the increasing demand for data center space in those markets, and will introduce additional managed services for Dataside customers.

"ViaWest has become a market leader in Colorado, Utah and Oregon by providing a wide range of mid-sized businesses with unparalleled support in addition to network, facility and solution sets that are second-to-none," said Roy Dimoff, Chairman and CEO of ViaWest. "Likewise, Dataside has built a tremendous reputation servicing mid-size and Fortune 1000 companies' infrastructure space needs. We could not be more enthusiastic with the scale and market opportunities that this acquisition provides."

"ViaWest and Dataside is a perfect marriage as both companies have similar success stories and a well- earned reputation for the highest quality of customer service," said James deVenny, President and CEO, Dataside. "We are very proud of what we created at Dataside, and we are extremely excited about the opportunities that the combined companies present."

Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo Foothill provided debt financing for ViaWest, and Goldman Sachs, Quilvest and ViaWest's existing investor group (led by Cowen Capital Partners) provided additional equity capital.

Dataside was originally called Collocation Solutions, and has focused its growth in the booming Dallas market, building into expansion space within the Infomart carrier hotel at 1950 Stemmons. In October 2007 Dataside announced $24.5 million in debt financing from Drawbridge Special Opportunities Fund, which is managed by the private equity firm Fortress Investment Group. In December it was reported that Dataside was in talks to be acquired.

ViaWest has expanded aggressively in recent years with its purchase of Oregon's Fortix in 2006 and an expansion in Salt Lake City in 2007. The company has reported strong demand in its key markets.