TORONTO – Bell is part of an investor group teaming up to buy Canadian data centre operator Q9 Networks for $1.1 billion.
With 11 data centres in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario, Q9 offers outsourced data centre solutions for organizations with mission-critical IT operations. The company will continue to be headquartered in Toronto and operate as a stand-alone entity. In addition, its existing management team, including CEO Osama Arafat and president and COO Paul Sharpe, will remain intact.
Under the agreement, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Providence Equity Partners and Madison Dearborn Partners LLC will contribute 70% ($420 million) of the equity funding, and Bell will provide the remaining 30% ($180 million). New debt financing by Q9, already committed, will also fund a portion of the acquisition.
"Q9 is a recognized leader in data centre services for business customers large and small, an ideal partner to grow our hosting and cloud-based business while leveraging our world-leading broadband network infrastructure," said Tom Little, president of Bell Business Markets, in the announcement. "Bell looks forward to working with our partners and to offering our national business customer base access to Q9's hosting and co-location services while delivering Bell's broadband network solutions to Q9's extensive client roster."
"Q9 looks forward to working with these leading private-equity firms and Canada's largest communications company, all of which have a strong track record of growing leading-edge companies like Q9," added Arafat. "They recognize the value of Q9 and its team, an exceptional Canadian company dedicated to providing organizations with highly secure and reliable data centre infrastructure services."
The transaction is expected to close before the end of 2012, subject to regulatory approval and customary closing conditions.
