Jabez Tan comments on Equinix acquisition of Metronode

• December 20, 2017

Source: Data Center Knowledge

Equinix has agreed to buy Metronode, one of the largest data center providers in Australia, for about US$792 million from the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan.

The acquisition gives Redwood City, California-based Equinix – already one of the largest colocation providers in Australia – data centers in four markets where it didn’t have footprint before, but it also expands Equinix’s capacity in the country’s two largest and most important data center markets: Sydney and Melbourne. Australia’s entire colocation industry is centered around these two cities, Jabez Tan, research director at Structure Research, who recently authored a report on the Australian data center market, said.

Sydney is the larger of the two. The Sydney colocation market generated about $380 million in 2016 and is projected to grow about 12 percent this year, according to Structure, which expects it to expand at a compound annual rate of 13 percent between now and 2021. The analysts expect the Melbourne market – which generated $124 million in 2016 – to grow faster. Structure projects a 16 percent compound annual growth rate in the Melbourne colocation market from 2016 to 2021.

The largest data center providers in Australia besides Equinix and Metronode include Global Switch, Fujitsu, Telstra, NextDC, Macquarie Telecom, Vocus, AirTrunk, and Digital Realty Trust. Equinix is the second-largest provider behind Global Switch in Sydney, and NextDC dominates the Melbourne market.