United States data center firm Equinix has announced its planned entry into the Philippines with the acquisition of three data centers from Total Information Management (TIM), a technology solutions provider based in the Philippines.

Following the recently announced expansions in Malaysia and Indonesia, this strategic move aims to help businesses expand and capitalize on the digital opportunity of the fast-growing Southeast Asia region, the firm said in a statement on Monday.

The all-cash transaction represents a multiple of approximately 15 times the projected earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) at full utilization and is expected to close in the second half 2024, subject to customary closing conditions.

According to the statement, the acquisition of the three high-performance data centers will provide capacity for Equinix to address the digital needs of local and overseas businesses in the Philippines.

Enterprises, cloud and information technology (IT) service providers, and network service providers around the world can leverage Platform Equinix® to interconnect and exchange data privately and securely within a vibrant ecosystem of business partners and customers.

Existing customers of TIM, including network and financial services companies, will also gain access to Equinix’s global ecosystems of more than 10,000 companies, including more than 2,000 networks and 3,000 cloud and IT service providers.

It is noted that Southeast Asia’s digital economy grew to $218 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) in 2023.

In particular, the Philippines’ digital economy is expected to continue its upward climb toward $35 billion by 2025, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20 percent.

The country is also seeing a surge in demand for digital infrastructure services, driven by a highly engaged digital population, booming e-commerce adoption and various government initiatives to promote digitization, such as the E-Government Masterplan 2022 and the Digi-Ed 2028 program.

“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 center capacity in Singapore, will greatly enhance our footprint in the region,” said Jeremy Deutsch, President, Asia-Pacific, Equinix.

According to him, this expanded digital infrastructure will also enable the firm’s customers to thrive and embrace digital transformation, harnessing the potential of emerging technologies like private artificial intelligence (AI).

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

Jose Mari M. Antunez, Chairman of TIM, said Equinix’s strong reputation and expertise in the industry make them the ideal partner to take their data center 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,

“Equinix’s global platform and extensive network will provide enhanced connectivity, scalability and access to a thriving ecosystem of partners,” he said.

He is confident that Equinix’s commitment to excellence and customer-centric approach will ensure a seamless transition and deliver unparalleled value to the firm’s customers.

According to the statement, the three carrier-neutral and interconnection-rich data centers include more than 1,000 cabinets of capacity and land for further expansion.

These data centers will support the digital transformation of local and global customers looking to expand into the Philippines.

As part of Equinix’s ambitious investment plans in the Asia-Pacific region, the company will expand in new markets including Jakarta, Indonesia (JK1) and Chennai, India (CN1) later this year.

With the capacity allocation by the government, Equinix will also expand its footprint in Singapore.

These expansions will reinforce Equinix’s leadership in the region and support the digital transformation of customers expanding into new markets.

Today, the global footprint of Platform Equinix spans 260 data centers across 71 metros and 33 countries.

In Asia-Pacific, Equinix currently operates 56 data centers in 14 key metros across Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore, including the recently opened data centers in Johor (JH1) and Kuala Lumpur (KL1) in Malaysia.

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