INTELLIGENT DATACENTRES
Equinix enters Africa after closing US $ 320 million acquisition of MainOne
E quinix , a global digital infrastructure company , has announced it has completed its deal to acquire West African data centre and connectivity solutions provider MainOne for an enterprise value of US $ 320 million , marking the beginning of its expansion into the African continent .
The completion of the acquisition augments Equinix ’ s long-term strategy to become a leading African carrier-neutral digital infrastructure company by being able to bring a full range of transformative technologies and connectivity to Nigeria , Ghana and Cote d ’ Ivoire .
This acquisition will extend Platform Equinix into West Africa , giving organisations based inside and outside of Africa access to global and regional markets .
Nigeria has both the largest population and the largest economy of any country in Africa , with approximately 142 million active Internet subscribers . Home to new innovative digital ecosystems in FinTech and content , and digital media , it has great opportunity for expansion of digital services .
Equinix believes MainOne , headquartered in Lagos , to be one of the most exciting technology businesses to emerge from Africa , and Lagos is rapidly becoming a key connectivity hub for the wider West Africa region . Founded by Funke Opeke in 2010 , the company has enabled connectivity for the business community of Nigeria and now has digital infrastructure assets , including three operational data centres , with an additional facility in Lagos expected to open in April 2022 .
Globally , Platform Equinix is comprised of 240 data centres across 66 metros and 27 countries on six continents , providing data centre and interconnection services to more than 10,000 companies including more than 50 % of Fortune 500 companies .
According to Equinix , the closure of the MainOne acquisition marks the latest in a series of strategic acquisitions for the world ’ s digital infrastructure company . Following the announcement of intent to acquire MainOne in December 2021 , Equinix recently announced expansions in South America with its intended acquisition of three Entel data centres to accelerate Digital Transformation opportunities for local businesses and multinational companies . •
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