Rackspace Expands With Hong Kong Data Center

Rackspace has expanded to Hong Kong, leasing about 9,000 square feet of data center space from PCCW, according to an SEC filing this week. The facility is the second area of international expansion for Rackspace, which operates one UK data center in London and is building a second in Slough.

The company also revealed in its SEC filing that Doug Loewe, the company's Managing Director, Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) has left the company. Loewe's departure on June 24 was "by mutual consent," the company said. "Doug has played a key role in the expansion of Rackspace EMEA but at this time both sides felt our continued focus on service excellence would best be served by a change in leadership," said Rackspace, which has begun the search for a new managing director for EMEA but has no timetable for a replacement. Loewe was appointed last July.

On April 25 Rackspace announced plans for an initial public offering that could raise as much as $400 million. This week's SEC filing included updates the company's initial S1 filing. Rackspace has not yet set a date for its IPO, which could break a lengthy IPO drought on Wall Street. There were no IPOs by venture-backed U.S. companies in the second quarter of 2008, the first time that has happened since 2003.

The lease in Hong Kong represents the second international expansion for Rackspace, which operates three UK data centers. On July 3, Rackspace entered into a lease for 6,523 square feet of data center space and 2,350 square feet of adjacent office space from PCCW on the 15th floor of its Fo Tan Data Centre. The five-year lease commences August 1.

Rackspace has 114,749 square feet of technical space in seven data centers in San Antonio, Texas; Grapevine, Texas; Herndon, Virginia; and London. Rackspace has also leased 50,000 square feet of data center space in Slough, U.K., which is under construction and will be finished in July. Rackspace plans to consolidate two of its three existing UK data centers into the Slough facility.