Equinix to acquire three Philippine data centres from TIM

Equinix has announced plans to acquire three data centres in the Philippines from Total Information Management (TIM), marking its entrance into the Filipino market.

This move follows the company’s recent expansions in Malaysia and Indonesia and aims to support businesses in seizing digital opportunities in Southeast Asia.

The all-cash transaction is projected to close in the second half of 2024, contingent on customary closing conditions. The acquisition represents a multiple of approximately 15 times the projected EBITDA at full utilisation.

Equinix aims to leverage these high-performance data centres to meet the digital needs of local and international businesses in the Philippines.

Existing TIM customers, which include network and financial services companies, will gain access to Equinix’s global ecosystems, comprising over 10,000 companies, including more than 2,000 networks and 3,000 cloud and IT service providers. This is expected to facilitate enhanced interconnectivity and data exchange within a broad network of partners and customers.

Jeremy Deutsch, President of Equinix Asia-Pacific, stated: "We are thrilled to announce our expansion into the Philippines, a vibrant and rapidly expanding digital economy that presents immense opportunities for our valued customers and partners. This strategic acquisition, combined with our recent expansions in Malaysia and Indonesia, as well as the awarded data centre capacity in Singapore, will greatly enhance our footprint in the region."

"This expanded digital infrastructure will also enable our customers to thrive and embrace digital transformation, harnessing the potential of emerging technologies like private AI," he added.

"This acquisition perfectly aligns with our vision to extend our leadership in the Asia-Pacific region, while driving the acceleration of the digital economy."

The digital economy of Southeast Asia was valued at USD $218 billion in gross merchandise value in 2023. The Philippines alone is projected to see its digital economy grow to USD $35 billion by 2025, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of 20%.

The demand for digital infrastructure services in the country is fuelled by various factors, including a highly engaged digital population, increased e-commerce adoption, and government digitisation initiatives such as the E-Government Masterplan 2022 and the Digi-Ed 2028 programme.

"Equinix's strong reputation and expertise in the industry make them the ideal partner to take our data centre business to new heights. While TIM will continue to remain as a system integrator, helping our customers through their digital transformation strategies, this deal will bring immense benefits to our customers," Jose Mari M. Antunez, Chairman of TIM, said.

"Equinix's global platform and extensive network will provide enhanced connectivity, scalability and access to a thriving ecosystem of partners. We are confident that Equinix's commitment to excellence and customer-centric approach will ensure a seamless transition and deliver unparalleled value to our customers," he added.

The three data centres being acquired are carrier-neutral and come with more than 1,000 cabinets of capacity, along with land for further expansion. These centres will support the digital transformation efforts of both local and global customers looking to enter the Filipino market.

As part of its broader investment strategy in the Asia-Pacific region, Equinix plans to expand into new markets, including Jakarta, Indonesia (JK1) and Chennai, India (CN1) later this year.

The company will also increase its footprint in Singapore, supported by government capacity allocations. These expansions are intended to bolster Equinix's leadership in the region and facilitate the digital transformation of its customers entering new markets.

Currently, Platform Equinix operates 260 data centres across 71 metropolitan areas in 33 countries. In the Asia-Pacific region, the company has 56 data centres across 14 key metropolitan areas, including recent additions in Johor and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.