Equinix Acquires Nigeria’s MainOne For $320 Million

American multinational company, Equinix, has acquired Nigeria’s MainOne for $320 million on Tuesday.

Equinix specializes in internet connection and data centers, with 229 data centers in 27 countries on five continents, while MainOne is a Nigerian provider of telecom services and network solutions for business in West Africa.

Equinix has acknowledged the acquisition, referring to it as the first step in its long-term strategy to become an African carrier neutral digital infrastructure company, reports TechCrunch.

“With more than 200 million people, Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy and, along with Ghana, has become an established data center hub. This makes the acquisition a pivotal entry point for Equinix into the continent,” Equinix said in a statement.

The company’s President and CEO, Charles Meyers, said the acquisition represents a crucial point of entry of Equinix into the rapidly growing African market.

“The acquisition of MainOne will represent a critical point of entry for Platform Equinix into the expansive and rapidly growing African market. MainOne’s leading interconnection position and experienced management team represent critical assets in our aspirations to be the leading neutral provider of digital infrastructure in Africa.

“MainOne’s infrastructure, customer relationships, partner ecosystem and operating capability will extend the reach of Platform Equinix and bolster opportunities for customers in Africa and throughout the world,” Meyers said.

The acquisition follows a series of expansion moves Equinix made last year, when it acquired India’s GPX India for $161 million and 13 data centres from Bell Canada for $780 million.

With a revenue of more than $5billion, Equinix provides data center and interconnection services for over 10,000 of the world’s leading businesses, including above half of the Fortune 500 companies.

MainOne CEO, Funke Opeke, said the acquisition will speed up the company’s long-term vision to grow digital infrastructure investments across Africa. She said the management of the company will continue to function in their respective roles after the acquisition is finalized.

“With similar values and culture to what we have jointly built in twelve years, Equinix is the preferred partner for our growth journey. The MainOne team is excited about the partnership created through the acquisition, and we look forward to building our next chapter together,” she said.

Opeke founded MainOne in 2010 to provide better internet connectivity for Nigerians.

She built the company as the first privately owned, open access undersea high capacity cable submarine in West Africa. It is a 7,000-kilometer cable stretching from Portugal to West Africa with landings along Accra in Ghana, Dakar in Senegal, Abidjan in the Ivory Coast and Lagos in Nigeria.

MainOne also has 1,200 kilometers of terrestrial fiber network across southern Nigeria in Lagos, Edo and Ogun states. Connectivity to terrestrial sites extends across 65 PoPs (points of presence) in cities across Portugal, Nigeria, Ghana and the Ivory Coast.

MainOne’s services are used by over 800 business-to-business customers. They include major international technology enterprises, social media companies, global telecommunications operators, financial service companies and cloud service providers.