Equinix (NASDAQ: EQIX) today announced the acquisition of 4 data centers in Chile and Peru from Empresa Nacional De Telecomunicaciones S.A. (Entel), a telecommunications provider in Chile, for an enterprise value of $705m. Specifically, Equinix’s acquisition includes three data centers in the metropolitan area of Santiago, Chile and may also involve one data center in Lima, Peru, pending finalization of a definitive agreement.
Entel’s four data centers generate ~$53m of annualized revenue. Additionally, including an allocation for Equinix’s SG&A expenses, Entel’s business would have generated ~$30.7m of adjusted EBITDA in 2021, implying a 58% margin. Therefore, Equinix is acquiring Entel’s data centers at a valuation of ~23x EV/2021 adjusted EBITDA.
Finally, the acquisition is expected to close in Q2 2022. Upon close, Equinix anticipates the acquisition from Entel will be immediately accretive to its adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) per share, excluding integration costs.
Chile and Peru Data Centers – Equinix Buys from Entel
While Equinix pegs the acquisition of 4 Entel data centers at an enterprise value of $705m, Entel discloses a purchase price for the portfolio of $736m or 18.58m Unidad de Fomento (UF), a unit of account used in Chile. Below is a further breakdown of the purchase price by country:
- Chile: $662.4m (16.72m UF), equivalent to 90% of the total purchase price
- Peru: $73.6m (1.86m UF), equivalent to 10% of the total purchase price
Data Centers
Equinix is securing from Entel, three data centers in the metropolitan area of Santiago, Chile and one data center in Lima, Peru.
Santiago, Chile
- Ciudad de los Valles: two facilities comprising 170k gross sqft, making it the largest multi-tenant data center in Santiago, Chile – with expansion opportunities
- Downtown: network-dense facility spanning 46k gross sqft, adjacent to the Entel Tower, a key internet exchange point (IXP) in the market, and close to the city government center
- Longovilo: located in a town ~67 miles (~108 kilometers) southwest of Santiago, Chile. This 31k gross sqft location serves the backup and disaster recovery needs of financial institutions
Also, in the Santiago, Chile market, Equinix will gain significant expansion capacity for future growth.
Lima, Peru
- Tier III data center spanning 16k gross sqft located in Lima, Peru
Customers
As part of the transaction, Entel will become a customer of the transferred data center business to Equinix, through a long-term service provision agreement. Post-transaction, Entel will comprise approximately half of the revenue which Equinix is acquiring.
Beyond Entel, more than 100 customers currently operate in the 4 data centers in Santiago, Chile and Lima, Peru. Of these customers, 75+ are net-new to Equinix, implying that Equinix already has relationships with ~25 of Entel’s customers. Specifically, Equinix is acquiring customers including 20+ network service providers (NSPs), as well as financial services clients.
Additionally, Equinix and Entel have formed a strategic partnership to enable enterprises in Chile and Peru to leverage hybrid and multi-cloud deployments.
Personnel
Equinix will assume ~120 Entel employees and contractors as part of its agreement with Entel.
Chile, Peru, and Latin America Data Centers – Equinix
Today’s announcement marks Equinix’s entry into the Latin American markets of Chile and Peru. Importantly, Chile is the fourth-largest economy in South America, and Santiago is emerging as a technology hub on the continent.
Particularly, through Santiago, Chile, Equinix anticipates serving regional cloud and content demand as well as local enterprises. To this end, between 2020 and 2024, cloud spending in Chile is expected to increase by 34.6%, according to IDC.
Latin America
Equinix is extending its presence to 5 countries in Latin America, namely Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru. Across the region, Equinix will operate 15 retail IBX data centers in 7 metros. Beyond Santiago, Chile and Lima, Peru, the company operates in:
- Brazil: Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo
- Colombia: Bogotá
- Mexico: Mexico City, Monterrey
Equinix – Americas – Data Center Map
Since entering Latin America in 2011, Equinix has invested ~$1.2bn in its operations in the region. More precisely, these investments have included:
- Brazil: total land and buildings & improvements cost of $355m for RJ1, RJ2, SP1, SP2, SP3, and SP4, as of December 31, 2021. Also, Equinix, through its xScale joint venture, is building São Paulo 5x which has a total cost of $69m
- Colombia: total land and buildings & improvements cost of $30.5m for BG1 and BG2, as of December 31, 2021
- Mexico: acquisition of three data centers from Axtel for a total purchase consideration of ~$189m, including $175m in cash and $14m for recoverable value-added taxes (VAT). Also, Equinix, through its xScale joint venture, is building Mexico City 3x-1 which has a total cost of $58m
Transaction Advisors – Equinix, Entel
Equinix’s financial advisor was Citi. Additionally, Entel’s financial advisor was Bank of America.
READ MORE: M&A in Chile and Peru with DigitalBridge / Linzor, KKR / Telefónica, Stonepeak / Lumen
