Interxion agreed to acquire a controlling interest in Icolo, a Kenyan data centre operator. Interxion also entered into a strategic partnership with the Pembani Remgro Infrastructure Fund (PRIF), which will invest in Icolo and will collaborate and co-invest with Interxion on expansion initiatives across the African continent. The transaction is expected to close in 1Q 2020. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Icolo, which has two data centres in Kenya currently in operation, reports strong demand from cloud and content platforms and across the enterprise segment. Acquisitions of 25,000 sqm of land for further expansion of Icolo’s data centre footprint are in progress in both Mombasa and Nairobi, with the associated total capacity for Icolo in Kenya expected to grow to approximately 20MW. In Mombasa, Icolo is uniquely positioned to benefit from the growing number of submarine cable consortia that have expressed their intention to land in Kenya.
“We are pleased to announce this partnership with Pembani Remgro, one of the leading TMT infrastructure investment firms in Africa,” said David Ruberg, Interxion’s Chief Executive Officer. “Their deep understanding of the African communications and technology sectors is highly complementary to Interxion’s proven expertise in serving the mission-critical needs of the customers in our carrier and cloud-neutral data centres. Our ambitions in this region are substantial, reflecting the opportunity for the cloud and content platforms to bring several hundreds of millions of people online in Africa over the next decade. We look forward to working with Icolo’s founder and CEO, Ranjith Cherickel, and his team to build on the solid foundations they have created.”
Upon the closing of the transaction and taking into consideration the PRIF investment, Interxion will own approximately 70% of Icolo’s common shares with the remaining shares held by PRIF and Icolo management.
Digital Realty + Interxion merger brings scale and interconnectivity
Digital Realty and Interxion agreed to a merger that would create a global provider of data center, colocation and interconnection solutions. Under the deal, Interxion shareholders will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 0.7067 Digital Realty shares per Interxion share. The transaction values Interxion at approximately $93.48 per ordinary share or approximately $8.4 billion of total enterprise value, including assumed net debt.
Interxion’s European business currently consists of 53 carrier- and cloud-neutral facilities in 11 European countries and 13 metro areas including Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Paris and Interxion’s Internet Gateway in Marseille. Its network reaches 700 connectivity providers, 21 European Internet exchanges, and most leading cloud and digital media platforms. Interxion has a robust pipeline of data center development projects currently under construction, with over $400 million invested to date and a total expected investment of approximately $1 billion. These projects represent roughly a 40% expansion of Interxion’s standalone critical load capacity, are significantly pre-leased and are expected to be delivered over the next 24 months, representing a solid pipeline of potential future growth for the combined company.
The companies said their combination will build upon Digital Realty’s successful track record of hyperscale development and will represent an extension of the connected campus strategy that empowers enterprise customers to leverage the right products – from colocation to hyperscale footprints – to create value by efficiently deploying
In Europe, Digital Realty has an established presence in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London and Dublin. On a global basis, Digital Realty has 220 data centers in 35 top metropolitan areas,
The companies also noted that the merger will provide access to additional capital for investment.
