Tuesday Bytes: Telehouse, Digital Realty, Vodafone, BT Group

Two upgrades in the colo biz, one carve-out, and some interesting M&A maneuvers over in the UK.

Telehouse America is upgrading its security in New York. Yesterday the division of KDDI Group revealed an implementation of ‘best-in-class layered physical security’ in both their Manhattan and Staten Island facilities. The solution leverages some 400 cameras and manages some 400 doors, covering every common area and access point, a radar perimeter detection system, and built-in intercoms and live video feeds. Sounds like quite a project!

Digital Realty has made a few expansion moves down in Texas this week. They have added more renewable energy capacity by tapping the Phoenix Solar Project in Fannin County, contracting up 78% of its total capacity, about 65 MW. It’s their third such energy deal, putting 70% of their portfolio in the Dallas metro area onto renewable energy of one form or another. And they have also upgraded their facility at 2323 Bryan Street in downtown Dallas, bringing additional capacity online. 

Vodafone is carving out its tower business into a new subsidiary over in Europe. Vantage Towers will run its 68K towers across 9 markets (Germany, Spain, Greece, Portugal, Czech Republic, Romania, Hungary, Ireland, and Italy) and may also include its 50% stake in the UK tower company CTIL. Also announced was a merger with Wind Hellas’s tower assets in Greece. If all goes will, they will IPO the division in Frankfurt next year. Vantage towers will be led by CEO Vivek Badrinath, CFO Thomas Reisten, and CCO Sonia Hernandez. 

And the rumor mill has none other than BT Group in the crosshairs of a hostile takeover bid. The company’s board, advised by Goldman Sachs, has taken measures to defend against a £15b outside bid, which is some 50% above the company’s current market valuation. BT Group and its Openreach infrastructure division have been rolling out fiber to the home in much of the UK as well as investing in 5G, and suspended their dividend back in May in the wake of Covid-19. Exactly who might be looking to take advantage of their current valuation with a takeover bid isn’t clear, but the markets are taking the potential seriously.

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Categories: Datacenter · Energy · Mergers and Acquisitions · Security · Towers