Equinix's passage to India

Addition of two highly interconnected data centers in Mumbai supports pan-Indian expansion and gives global customers access to one of the fastest growing markets.

Tuesday, 11th August 2020 Posted 4 years ago in by Phil Alsop

Equinix is expanding into India through the acquisition of the India operations of GPX Global Systems, Inc. (“GPX India”). The all-cash transaction value of US$161 million represents a multiple of approximately 15x the projected EBITDA at full utilization. The acquisition is expected to close in Q1 2021, subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory approval.

The acquisition will extend Platform Equinix^® to India with the addition of two world-class, highly interconnected data centers, providing a platform for additional expansion across the country. Equinix customers will have access to a network-dense data center campus with more than 200 international brands and local companies, including the world’s leading cloud service providers (CSPs), leading networks, content delivery network (CDN) providers, all local carriers, 130 internet service providers (ISPs) and four internet exchanges. Both data centers are strategically located in Mumbai, home to the critical IT infrastructure of numerous global organizations and with international connectivity serviced by subsea cables at landing sites located nearby.

According to McKinsey, core digital sectors in India, such as IT and digital communication services, are projected to double in size by 2025 to contribute US$355-435 billion to GDP.^[1] To further address the proliferation of digitization of the country, this acquisition will allow Equinix to support its existing network, content, cloud and enterprise customers looking to expand in this rapidly growing market. The expansion will also help local companies accelerate their digital transformation journeys by deploying their infrastructures, applications and services closer to the edge through the globally interconnected platform of more than 210 International Business Exchange^TM (IBX^®) data centers.

Under the agreement, Equinix intends to acquire GPX India’s business consisting of a fiber-connected campus in Mumbai with two data centers, adding more than 1,350 cabinets, with an additional 500 cabinets at full buildout. The facilities will add more than 90,000 square feet of colocation space to Platform Equinix when fully built.

GPX India offers a cloud dense environment and access to major cloud services, including Amazon Direct Connect, Google Cloud Dedicated Interconnect and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure FastConnect. GPX India also has an interconnection solution that enables customers to connect to multiple cloud platforms designed to address the vast appetite for cloud services in the country where the cloud services market is expected to grow threefold to more than US$7.1 billion from 2018 to 2022.2

GPX India facilities also host key internet exchanges such as Mumbai IX-DECIX, AMS-IX India, Extreme IX and Bharat IX, allowing ISPs, carriers, CDNs and large enterprises to exchange internet traffic.