Equinix Completes Tender Offer of Bit-isle

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. and TOKYO, Nov. 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), the global interconnection and data center company, acting through its Japanese subsidiary, today announced that it has completed a cash tender offer and has acquired approximately 97% of the equity interests (including stock options) of Bit-isle, Inc. Equinix will begin reporting consolidated financials as of November 2nd, and will acquire the remaining shares of Bit-isle by the end of 2015.  

The acquisition of Bit-isle further strengthens Equinix's position in Asia-Pacific—the company's fastest growing region—improving the company's market position in Japan, and helping to meet growing demand for interconnection among Japanese businesses. Equinix gains five data centers in Tokyo and one in Osaka in close proximity to the existing Equinix International Business Exchange (IBX^®) data centers in Japan, creating campus-like environments well-suited for customers' future expansion needs. With the acquisition of Bit-isle's six facilities, Platform Equinix™ now includes 111 data centers in 33 markets around the world.

Highlights / Key Facts

• Originally announced on September 8, 2015, the acquisition of Bit-isle increases Equinix's scale and creates the fourth largest data center operator in Japan ⁽¹⁾.  After the completion of Equinix's TY5 data center in Tokyo in Q1 2016, Equinix will have a total of 10 data centers in Tokyo and two in Osaka.
• Japan is one of the world's largest colocation markets and Equinix Japan has the highest mix of interconnection revenue in the company's APAC region. In a recent global survey of more than 1,000 IT decision makers² from 14 countries including Japan, the number one business priority for nearly half of the survey respondents is to increase revenue, and interconnection was at the core of all the strategies cited as key to achieving this goal. Furthermore, of the enterprises already deploying interconnection strategies, more than one-third are reaping a total value of more than $10 million from revenue gains and cost savings.
• According to Bloomberg, four of the five fastest growing economies in the world are located in Asia-Pacific ³. As the region continues to boom it will be increasingly important for businesses to be able to scale their IT needs to meet demand and enter new markets. The acquisition of Bit-isle will increase Platform Equinix from 21 to 27 data centers throughout Asia-Pacific, including in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan and Singapore, and to 33 markets around the world.
• Bit-isle adds data center capacity in close proximity to Equinix's carrier dense sites that Equinix can leverage to continue to scale its global interconnection platform. The acquired data centers can be tethered to existing Equinix IBX data centers for campus connectivity to network and cloud service providers, business ecosystems and other enterprises within a metropolitan area.
• Prior to the acquisition Equinix already served 1,300+ customers in Asia-Pacific including 350+ networks and 390+ cloud and IT service providers. Bit-isle complements Equinix's cloud and network service provider customer base with a strong Japanese enterprise and systems integrator customer base, including some of Japan's largest companies, while also adding strong local expertise to help drive Equinix's success in Japan.

Quotes

• Steve Smith, president and CEO, Equinix:
  "For several years Equinix has been evaluating how to accelerate our leadership in this market. Bit-isle facilities are adjacent to our carrier dense sites in downtown Tokyo, giving us customer-ready capacity as well as the opportunity to scale Platform Equinix in this increasingly constrained, but important global market."

Additional Resources

• For more information, including an investor presentation, the Notice of Commencement of Tender Offer for Share Certificates, Etc. of Bit-isle Inc. (Stock Code: 3811) and the Notice of Results of Tender Offer for Share Certificates, Etc. of Bit-isle Inc. (Stock Code: 3811), both in English and Japanese, please visit the Equinix Investor Relations page.
• Equinix Plans to Expand Data Center Footprint in Japan through Acquisition of Bit-isle [press release]
• Equinix to Build New $43M Data Center in Tokyo [press release]

About Equinix

Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX) connects the world's leading businesses to their customers, employees and partners inside the most interconnected data centers. In 33 markets across five continents, Equinix is where companies come together to realize new opportunities and accelerate their business, IT and cloud strategies. www.equinix.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements which are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations discussed in such forward-looking statements, including statements related to the acquisition of Bit-isle, the expected benefits from the acquisition and the expected timing for closing the acquisition.  Factors that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to, the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that would compromise our ability to complete the acquisition of Bit-isle within the expected timeframe or at all; unanticipated costs or difficulties relating to the integration of companies we have acquired or will acquire into Equinix, including Bit-isle; the challenges of acquiring, operating and constructing IBX centers and developing, deploying and delivering Equinix services; a failure to receive significant revenue from customers in recently built out or acquired data centers; failure to complete any financing arrangements contemplated from time to time; competition from existing and new competitors; the ability to generate sufficient cash flow or otherwise obtain funds to repay new or outstanding indebtedness; the loss or decline in business from our key customers; and other risks described from time to time in Equinix's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In particular, see Equinix's recent quarterly and annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, copies of which are available upon request from Equinix. Equinix does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this press release.

Equinix and IBX are registered trademarks of Equinix, Inc.
International Business Exchange is a trademark of Equinix, Inc.

¹ Source: Fuji Chimera Research Institute
² Source: Global Study Finds Number of Interconnected Enterprises to Double by 2017 http://www.equinix.com/newsroom/press-releases/pr/?prId=123408
³ Source: Bloomberg: The 20 Fastest-Growing Economies This Year (2015) http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-02-25/the-20-fastest-growing-economies-this-year

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SOURCE Equinix, Inc.