Global digital infrastructure company Equinix has acquired West African datacentre and connectivity solutions provider MainOne for an enterprise value of US$320-million, and effectively marks the beginning of its expansion into Africa.
In a statement released to the media, Equinix said the completion of this acquisition augments its long-term strategy to become a leading African carrier-neutral d igital infrastructure company by being able to bring a full range of transformative technologies and connectivity to Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana and Nigeria.
An excerpt from the statement reads: “This acquisition will extend Platform Equinix into West Africa, giving organisations based inside and outside 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.
READ ALSO:
Nigerian Ed-Tech Startup Klas Raises $130k Angel Funding Round
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 datacentres, with an additional facility in Lagos expected to open in April 2022.
According to information supplied, MainOne’s assets four operational datacentres, which, according to the companies, will add more than 64,000 gross square feet of space to Platform Equinix, in addition to 570,000 square feet of land for future expansions.
Equinix will also gain access to an extensive submarine network extending 7,000km from Portugal to Lagos, Accra and along the West African coast, with landing stations in Nigeria, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, as well as a terrestrial network of more than 1,200km of reliable terrestrial fibre in Lagos, Edo and Ogun States.
Connectivity to terrestrial sites extends across 65 points of presence (PoPs) in cities across Portugal, Nigeria, Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire.
The companies add that going forward MainOne will operate under a new brand “MainOne, an Equinix company” and Opeke will continue to lead the operation.
Globally, Platform Equinix is comprised of 240 datacentres across 66 metros and 27 countries, with clients that include over 50% of Fortune 500 companies.
Closure of the MainOne acquisition marks the latest in a series of strategic acquisitions for Equinix. 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 datacentres to accelerate digital transformation opportunities for local businesses and multinational companies.
Both acquisitions followed announcements to acquire 13 Bell datacentres in Canada and two highly interconnected datacentres in Mumbai through the acquisition of GPX India in October 2020 and September 2021, respectively.
