REDWOOD
CITY, Calif., Oct. 1, 2024
/PRNewswire/ -- Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), the world's
digital infrastructure company®, today announced the
signing of a joint venture (JV) agreement, subject to closing
conditions, in the form of a limited liability partnership with GIC
and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPP Investments), with
the intent to raise over US$15
billion in capital together with its partners. Driven by
increasing artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud growth, the
JV is intended to accelerate the Equinix xScale data center
portfolio, which enables hyperscale companies to add core
deployments to their existing access point footprints at Equinix
International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data centers. At
full buildout, this new JV will nearly triple the investment
capital of the Equinix xScale program.
With the capital raised through the JV, Equinix expects the JV
to purchase land to build new state-of-the-art xScale facilities on
multiple greater-than-100-megawatt (MW) campuses in the U.S.,
eventually adding more than 1.5 gigawatts of new capacity for
hyperscale customers.
Highlights / Key Facts:
- Equinix has a longstanding relationship with GIC, having
previously partnered on xScale projects in Asia, the Americas and Europe (see links below for details on other
joint ventures). This agreement represents the first JV between
Equinix and CPP Investments, which manages the assets of the Canada
Pension Plan for more than 22 million contributors and
beneficiaries.
- Under the terms of the agreement, CPP Investments and GIC will
each control a 37.5% equity interest in the joint venture, and
Equinix will own a 25% equity interest. Each party has made equity
commitments, and the joint venture also expects to take on debt to
raise the total pool of investable capital to more than
US$15 billion over time.
- Equinix's existing hyperscale joint venture portfolio in
Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Americas has a committed
investment of over US$8 billion,
which is expected to result in greater than 725 MW of power
capacity across more than 35 facilities at full buildout.
- Platform Equinix® features nearly 40% of the private
on-ramps to the top global cloud service providers, which is more
than any other provider. As hyperscale companies scale their
operations at Equinix, the ecosystem of over 10,000 enterprises and
other companies currently operating at Equinix can benefit from
increased opportunities to directly connect and operate in
proximity to the largest global cloud operators.
- xScale data centers serve the unique core workload deployment
needs of the world's largest cloud service providers, including
hyperscalers, which are key players in the AI ecosystem. These
companies can add core deployments to their existing access point
footprints at Equinix IBX data centers, enabling their growth on a
single platform that can immediately span 72 global metros and
offer direct interconnection to an ecosystem of more than 10,000
customers.
- Equinix is committed to delivering sustainable digital
infrastructure and engaging our suppliers and partners in supply
chain responsibility. Equinix has continued to make advancements in
the way it designs, builds and operates its data centers with high
energy-efficiency standards, and all xScale data centers will be
LEED certified (or certified in the regional equivalent).
- The closing of the joint venture is subject to the receipt of
required regulatory approvals, which are expected to be received in
the fourth quarter of 2024.
- Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC served as exclusive financial
advisor to Equinix in connection with this transaction.
Quotes
- Adaire Fox-Martin, CEO and
President, Equinix
"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. Our xScale and IBX
offerings are uniquely positioned to address this business need,
enabling companies to realize the powerful potential of AI."
- Goh Chin Kiong, Chief
Investment Officer, Real Estate at GIC
"We are proud to expand our years-long partnership with
Equinix, addressing a massive and growing demand for digital
infrastructure, driven by the rapid advancement of technology,
including AI. GIC's capital and scale, paired with Equinix's
operational expertise, has driven meaningful value across our
investments together. Through this joint venture, we look forward
to providing the funding needed to develop state-of-the-art digital
infrastructure across the U.S. alongside our likeminded partner,
CPP Investments."
- Max Biagosch, Senior Managing Director, Global Head of Real
Assets & Head of Europe for
CPP Investments
"CPP Investments has invested in data centers for several
years and we have developed strong expertise in this space. This
investment will help meet the increasing demand for data centers
driven by rapid technological advancements and marks a significant
step forward in our broader data center strategy. We are pleased to
partner with Equinix and GIC to deliver strong long-term
risk-adjusted returns for the CPP Fund."
Additional Resources
- Equinix and PGIM Real Estate Enter Into $600 Million JV for First xScale® Data
Center in the U.S. [press release: April 2024]
- Equinix and GIC to Invest US$525
Million to Build Hyperscale Data Centers in
Korea [press release: January
2022]
- Equinix and GIC to Add $3.9B to
Expand xScale Data Center Program [press release: June 2021]
- Hyperscalers Expand Beyond Core Locations for Proximity and
Speed [Equinix Blog: January
2023]
- Equinix Climate Commitments and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
[Equinix website]
About Equinix
Equinix (Nasdaq: EQIX) is the world's digital infrastructure
company®. Digital leaders harness Equinix's trusted
platform to bring together and interconnect foundational
infrastructure at software speed. Equinix enables organizations to
access all the right places, partners and possibilities to scale
with agility, speed the launch of digital services, deliver
world-class experiences and multiply their value, while supporting
their sustainability goals.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve
risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from
expectations discussed in such forward-looking statements. Factors
that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to,
risks related to Equinix and the joint venture partners' ability to
complete the closing of the joint venture on the proposed terms and
schedule, including obtaining regulatory approval; any inability of
Equinix, the partners or the joint venture to obtain financing as
needed; risks related to whether the data centers that will be
developed will be integrated successfully, and whether such
development may be more difficult, time-consuming or costly than
expected; risks that the expected benefits of the joint venture
will not occur; the challenges of operating and managing data
centers and developing, deploying and delivering Equinix products
and solutions; the ability to generate sufficient cash flow or
otherwise obtain funds to repay new or outstanding indebtedness;
competition from existing and new competitors; the loss or decline
in business from key hyperscale companies; disruption from the
joint venture making it more difficult to conduct business as usual
or maintain relationships with customers, employees or suppliers;
risks to our business and operating results related to the current
inflationary environment; foreign currency exchange rate
fluctuations; stock price fluctuations; increased costs to procure
power and the general volatility in the global energy market; risks
related to our taxation as a REIT; and risks related to regulatory
inquiries or litigation and other risks described from time to time
in Equinix filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In
particular, see recent and upcoming Equinix 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.
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/equinix-agrees-to-form-greater-than-15b-jv-to-expand-hyperscale-data-centers-in-the-us-and-support-growing-ai-and-cloud-innovation-302263523.html
SOURCE Equinix, Inc.
