REDWOOD CITY, CALIF. — Equinix Inc. (NASDAQ: EQIX) has agreed to acquire a portfolio of 24 data center sites and their operations from Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, NASDAQ: VZ) for $3.6 billion.
The portfolio consists of 29 buildings across 24 sites in North and South America, including Atlanta and Norcross, Ga.; Bogotá, Columbia; Boston; Chicago; Culpeper, Va.; Dallas, Houston and Richardson, Texas; Denver; Los Angeles, Santa Clara and San Jose, Calif.; Miami and Doral, Fla.; New York City; São Paulo, Brazil; Seattle; and Washington, D.C.
The NAP of the Americas facility in Miami was formerly a flagship facility for Verizon, and will become a strategic hub and gateway for Equinix customer deployments servicing Latin America.
Approximately 250 Verizon employees, primarily in the operations functions of the acquired data centers, will become Equinix employees. The all-cash transaction is expected to close by mid-2017.
Evercore, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP advised Equinix in the acquisition.
At the close of the transaction, Redwood City, Calif.-based Equinix’s total global footprint will be 175 data centers in 43 markets with approximately 17 million gross square feet across the Americas, Europe and Asia.
Equinix’s stock price closed at $332.08 per share on Monday, Dec. 5, up from $297.58 one year ago. Verizon’s stock price closed at $49.75 on Monday, up from $46.06 one year ago.
— Katie Sloan