Stone Fox Capital's  Instablog

Good news for one of our favorite stocks that has been lagging of late. Competitor Switch and Data Facilities (SDXC) got a buyout offer from Equinix (EQIX) last night providing nearly a 30% premium for the share price of SDXC. In addition, EQIX beat earnings estimates by 57% providing more support for investing in TerreMark (TMRK).

Remember, Stone Fox Capital invested in TerreMark Worldwide because it has a great connection with the Federal Govt and VMWare (VM) making it our top pick in the sector. The news from EQIX suggests that the sector as a whole is improving dramatically from last year.

Details on the merger:

• entered a definitive agreement for Equinix to acquire Switch and Data in a transaction valued at approximately $689 million in cash and stock, based on yesterday’s market close. The combination of the two companies will further strengthen Equinix’s leadership position in the global data center services market by extending the company’s presence to 16 new markets across North America. Equinix will integrate Switch and Data’s data center business and operations, including the company’s 34 data centers in 22 markets in the U.S. and Canada. The acquisition will add more than one million gross square feet of data center capacity, bringing Equinix’s total global footprint to 79 data centers in 34 markets and more than six million square feet across the North American, European and Asia-Pacific markets. It will allow Equinix to immediately expand into new strategic markets, including Atlanta, Denver, Miami, Seattle and Toronto, as well as provide a platform for future expansion of Switch and Data assets.

• Under the terms of the agreement, Switch and Data stockholders will have the opportunity to elect to receive either 0.19409 shares of Equinix stock or $19.06 in cash for each share of Switch and Data stock.

Equinix earnings:

• The company earned $18.8 million, or 47 cents per share, up from a profit of $5.6 million, or 15 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.
• Revenue rose 24 percent to $227.6 million from $183.7 million.
• Analysts, on average, were expecting a profit of 30 cents per share on sales of $224.1 million, according to a poll by Thomson Reuters.
• For the full year, Equinix forecast sales of $875 million to $880 million. Analysts are expecting $872 million.