Digital Realty to acquire Interxion in $8.4 billion deal

Deal is the largest in the history of the data centre industry

Digital Realty has announced the acquisition of Amsterdam-based colocation and interconnection provider Interxion in an all-stock deal worth $8.4bn.

The acquisition surpasses Digital Realty’s $7.6 billion purchase of DuPont Fabros Technology as the largest acquisition in the history of the data centre industry and puts an end to recent speculation over the future of Interxion, rumoured to be mulling takeover bids from several investment firms.

Digital Realty is the world’s largest operator of mission-critical facilities and will benefit immensely from Interxion’s sizable European presence, having built a solid portfolio in the US and other global markets.

Interxion operates 53 facilities in 11 European countries and has constructions underway that will add a further 40 percent of critical load when complete. Although Digital Realty has a presence in London and Dublin already, Interxion’s footprint will effectively establish the company as a pan-European data centre leader, with access to approximately 70 percent of the continent’s GDP.

Digital Realty Chief Executive Officer A. William Stein will serve as CEO of the combined company. Interxion Chief Executive Officer David Ruberg will serve as the Chief Executive of the combined company’s Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) business, which will be branded “Interxion, a Digital Realty company” at the transaction’s close.

“This strategic and complementary transaction builds upon Digital Realty’s established foundation of serving market demand for colocation, scale and hyperscale requirements in the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific and leverages Interxion’s European colocation and interconnection expertise, enhancing the combined company’s capabilities to enable customers to solve for the full spectrum of data center requirements across a global platform,” said Stein.

Under the terms of the agreement, Interxion shareholders will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 0.7067 Digital Realty shares, valuing Interxion at approximately $93.48 per ordinary share and approximately $8.4 billion as a whole. The deal is expected to be completed in 2020, subject to approval of both company’s shareholders and other customary closing conditions.