5NINES, the UK-based colocation provider and developer, has officially been acquired by US-based ServerFarm. Details of the deal remain sealed, although all of 5NINES’ employees, customers, subsidiaries, operations and assets are set to be integrated into the wider ServerFarm business.
With global spending on colocation services set to grow to $38.8 billion in 2023, up from $25.9 billion in 2018, according to IHS Markit, it’s no wonder that some of the larger firms are looking to expand their businesses through acquisitions. After all, setting up a data centre isn’t the cheapest option, and sometimes it can make more financial sense to simply acquire an existing operation.
5NINES is firmly established in both its home nation, as well as globally. The company now operates data centres in the US, Finland, the Netherlands, and the UK. One notable property in the UK is the company’s Northern Irish data centre, which is the largest in the region at 45,000 sqft. ServerFarm, meanwhile, has only just entered the European market through its acquisition of a 120,000 sqft data centre near London’s Heathrow.
“We are delighted to have acquired one of the world’s most innovative data centre operators,” said Avner Papouchado, ServerFarm’s CEO.
“This acquisition not only extends our global data centre footprint, but also provides a platform to help more customers by repeating a well-proven model. We built ServerFarm because we recognised that global enterprise customers are looking to be released from owning and operating cost- and capital-intensive data centre and IT infrastructure and move to more cloud-like as a service, flexible model. This acquisition positions ServerFarm to help more customers around the world realize this objective, and our significant portfolio and services combined with 5NINES’ innovation will define how enterprise data centre owners deliver digital strategies for years to come.”
Enterprise to Public data centre solution gets big boost
In addition to the acquisition, the founder of 5NINES and ServerFarm have agreed to jointly accelerate 5NINES’ Enterprise to Public data centre solution. The company says that this offers a solution for global clients who are looking to remove their existing data centre assets and operations from their internal portfolio and convert to a pure service model.
“It’s a great pleasure to see that our vision for Enterprise to Public (E²P) data centres, underpinned by proven customer contracts, has been recognised by ServerFarm as being a game changer,” said 5NINES Chairman Justin Gilbert.
“We are looking forward to working with the team at ServerFarm to help more customers take advantage of the incredible opportunities to transform their business.”
