Equinix Buys Provider in Netherlands

Equinix, Inc. (EQIX) continues to expand into the European market, announcing today that it has bought Virtu Secure Webservices B.V., a provider of network-neutral data center services in the Netherlands. The deal will immediately provide Equinix with data center operations in the cities of Enschede and Zwolle, as well as expansion space in Amsterdam by mid-year. Equinix said it will spend $48 million to buy Virtu and complete the buildout of the Amsterdam site.

The acquisition follows Equinix' acquisition of IXEurope, which gave the interconnection specialist a foothold in the European market and boosted the company's revenue and stock price.

Virtu has more than 400 enterprise, systems integrator and government customers include IBM, TUI/Thomson, Netherlands Department of Finance and Ten Cate. The company operates data centers in Enschede (13,000 square feet) and Zwolle (5,400 square feet), and it is currently building out a 32,000 square foot data center in Amsterdam. The Enschede facility is 40 percent full, while the data center in Zwolle just opened but will be at 80 percent occupancy once all signed contracts are fully installed.

The Amsterdam site is a former data center for ING Bank that was acquired by Virtu through a lease agreement. Virtu is currently building out the facility to "create an infrastructure that is compatible with the increased power and cooling requirements of current data center equipment." Equinix said it would "immediately be involved in the design and modernization of this site," a process sometimes known as being "Equinized."

"Amsterdam is an important location for our primary customer segments, including network service providers, digital content providers, financial services companies and enterprises, and we see significant demand from them as we extend our network-neutral operations to this market," said Steve Smith, president and CEO of Equinix.

"As an increasing number of multinational corporations are selecting the Netherlands as a base for serving the European market, the region has become a strategic market for premium data center and interconnection services," said Guy Willner, president of Equinix Europe. "In addition, the presence of AMS-IX, the largest Internet exchange in Europe, makes Amsterdam an important hub for the networks serving the continent. We are thrilled to add Virtu's seasoned team and customer base in the Netherlands to Equinix."