US based information storage specialist Iron Mountain this month announced that its proposed acquisition of American data center company Fortrust has been completed for a sum of USD 128 million. Industry experts view the deal as the continuation of the consolidation of the US data center industry.
The takeover of Fortrust furthers Iron Mountain’s geographic data center presence, adding 9 megawatts of existing data center capacity and expansion space to an additional 7 megawatts within Fortrust’s 210,000 square foot facility in Denver. Iron Mountain claims that Fortrust’s focus on high reliability and security aligns with its heritage in information storage and retention.
While announcing the acquisition, Senior VP and General Manager of Iron Mountain Data Centers, Mark Kidd, had this to say:
Iron Mountain has operated in the data center business for more than 20 years and delivered consistent, solid internal growth. This acquisition, together with Phase I of our Northern Virginia campus, will bring total capacity to more than 30 megawatts with the ability to expand to more than 70 megawatts across our data center properties.
Similarly, President and CEO of Iron Mountain, William Meaney, stated:
Together with our existing data centers and completion of the first phase of our Northern Virginia data center campus next month, this acquisition will strengthen the foundation of a long-term growth engine and help accelerate the growth in our adjacent businesses.
Meanwhile, speaking on behalf of his company, CEO of Fortrust, Steven Knudson, added:
We are excited by the potential this transaction with Iron Mountain represents, giving our customers access to a larger portfolio of locations and services while still receiving the highest level of customer service and operational quality Fortrust has delivered for over 15 years.
The acquisition is expected to be completed before the end of Q3 2017, with Iron Mountain hoping to fund the purchase with USD 73.5 million in stock and USD 54.5 million in cash.