Huge Equinix Expansion in London, Singapore

In a sign of continuing data center demand in key global business centers, Equinix(EQIX) said today that it will build new facilities in the London and Singapore markets. The London facility will be an enormous 300,000 square foot data center in Slough, a suburb that is quickly emerging as a data center hub. Equinix expects to spend between $125 million and $135 million to complete the London project and a new 110,000 square foot data center in Singapore.

The Slough project will be the fifth Equinix data center in London, and will be built out in phases on land adjacent to an existing Equinix facility known as LD4. The new LD5 center will feature a first phase that expands capacity by 1,400 cabinets, and when completed will house 5,500 to 6,000 cabinet. Capital expenditures for the initial phase will be between $80 million and $90 million, Equinix said, with $60 million to be spent by the end of 2009.

Equinix described the London market as "constrained" as demand continues to outpace supply.  “These two new fully funded builds, in addition to our recently announced build in Paris, represent Equinix’s longstanding strategy of measured expansion in strategic markets where demand is strong,” said Steve Smith, president and CEO of Equinix.

“In London and Singapore, we continue to experience strong growth and anticipate that we will soon reach capacity in these existing centers," Smith added. "These new centers will provide the company with a long-term solution to meet the demand in these markets, as we pursue our flexible expansion model that enables us to build out a property in multiple phases over time.”

The new Singapore center (SG2), located in the western region of Singapore, will also be built out in phases, with capital expenditures for the initial phase expected to be approximately $45 million, which will be spent by the end of 2009. It will provide additional capacity to Equinix’s existing SG1 center located in the southern region of Singapore. The first phase of the SG2 center will accommodate approximately 700 cabinets, and, at full build out, the center will have a total capacity of approximately 1,700 cabinets.

Equinix announced the expansion along with its earnings for the third quarter, when it had revenues of $183.7 million, a 7 percent increase over the previous quarter and a 77 percent increase over the same quarter last year. The company said the strengthening of the U.S. dollar depressed its revenues by about $2.5 million during the quarter. Equinix also tightened its revenue guidance for 2008, narrowing it from a range of $700 to $710 million to a range of  $702 to $705 million.