Boosted by a $300 million bond raising, Hong Kong-based Pacnet will spend up to $220 million on building new Asian data centers over the next five years.
The privately-held operator formally says it will double capacity from 93,000 sq feet to around 190,000 sq feet over the next 12 months.
It formally opened a 3,300 sq ft Hong Kong center today and will open another in Singapore in two weeks, CEO Bill Barney told a press briefing. Another will open in Sydney in March, with further launches planned for Korea and Japan.
Barney said that by basing the center at an international cable landing station, the company was able to offer the fastest provisioning in the market.
He said Pacnet, which currently writes about $26 million in data center business each year, is ranked “16th or 17th” largest data center operator in the region. “We aspire to a top five position within two years,” he said.
He expects the expansion to add “two to three points” to Pacnet's growth by 2012, and that the data center business, which now accounts for about 5% of total revenue of $500 million, would grow to about 15%-20% by 2013.
The bond issue, which was five times over-subscribed, provides critical funds for the company after two abortive attempts at IPOs.
The cash will be used to “recapitalize the company and to pay down debt,” Barney said. It would also help fund Pacnet's planned West Asia Cable (WAC) between Singapore and Chennai.
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