Equinix has announced a joint venture worth over $15 billion with GIC and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments) to expand its xScale data center portfolio in the U.S. The deal is expected to significantly boost Equinix’s capacity for hyperscale customers, including AI and cloud services providers. This move aims to meet the increasing demand for high-performance data centers, essential for artificial intelligence and cloud-based workloads. Equinix, which will hold a 25% stake in the venture, will partner with GIC and CPP Investments, each controlling a 37.5% equity interest.
The capital raised will go towards the acquisition of land and the construction of new data center campuses capable of delivering more than 1.5 gigawatts of new capacity. These state-of-the-art facilities will support the growth of hyperscale cloud and AI companies, enabling them to expand their operations and interconnect with over 10,000 enterprises within Equinix’s global network. The joint venture builds on Equinix’s existing hyperscale projects across Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Americas, which currently represent a $8 billion investment in over 35 facilities.
The xScale data centers will serve as the backbone for companies deploying large-scale AI and cloud services, offering both hyperscale deployments and connectivity through Equinix’s International Business Exchange (IBX) data centers. With regulatory approval expected by Q4 2024, the project aims to accelerate the availability of sustainable, high-efficiency data centers.
Key Points:
• Equinix, GIC, and CPP Investments commit to raising over $15 billion for hyperscale data centers.
• The joint venture will focus on building facilities across multiple campuses, adding over 1.5 GW of capacity.
• Equinix’s xScale data centers are optimized for AI and cloud service providers, integrating into a global network of 72 metro areas.
• This is the first partnership between Equinix and CPP Investments, with GIC and Equinix having a longstanding relationship in previous xScale projects.
“As the world’s leading companies build out their infrastructure to support key workloads such as artificial intelligence, they require the combination of large-scale data center footprints optimized for AI training and interconnection nodes for the most efficient inferencing,” said Adaire Fox-Martin, CEO and President, Equinix.
