EXA Infrastructure, the most expansive dedicated digital infrastructure platform connecting Europe and North America, today unveiled a new brand and outlined its intentions to meet rising customer demand for core services after its acquisition by I Squared Capital.
I Squared Capital completed the purchase of Europe-wide, subsea and North American network infrastructure and data center assets, previously owned by GTT Communications. The new company now serves customers across 103,000 route kilometers of fiber network that connects 300 cities. This vast network includes dense metropolitan footprints, connected by multiple inter-city routes and pan-continental subsea cables.
“This is the second, complex carve-out of fiber and data center assets from an integrated telecom company to an independent, carrier-neutral infrastructure platform that we have completed,” said Gautam Bhandari, Managing Partner at I Squared Capital. “Digital infrastructure will be a key component of global economic growth, especially in a post-Covid economy, and is a key pillar of our investment strategy. Combined with our recent transactions for Ezee Fiber in Texas and KIO Networks in Mexico, I Squared Capital has committed over $3 billion to digital infrastructure with over 120,000 route kilometers of fiber across the Americas, Europe and Asia.”
HGC, the first telecom asset of I Squared Capital since 2017, will make full use of the enhanced telecom portfolio and the synergies after the acquisition so as to seize the advantages and capture the potential opportunities in the future. HGC will continue to uplift the business in Hong Kong and Asia, as well as to further extend the global network footprint and strengthen the market position around the world.
EXA also announced the appointment of Martijn Blanken as its Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Mr Blanken previously held various executive positions within Telstra Corporation, among others CEO of Telstra Global, and most recently served as Senior Advisor to I Squared Capital.
“The creation of EXA, the way that we will serve our customers and our commitment to continual investment in our business is all down to one word: focus. We will have a relentless focus on the data-center-to-data center infrastructure services we provide, enabling our customers to provide the most compelling experiences to their clients and end-users,” said Martijn Blanken, CEO, EXA. “We are determined to become the undisputed leader in the digital infrastructure industry in the European, trans-Atlantic and North American market. In order to achieve that ambition, we will make material investments to expand our network footprint, in close collaboration with our customers, to meet the ever-growing need to carry data around key routes in the region.
“The growth in data volumes, in combination with rapidly changing industry dynamics as the traditional owners and operators of digital infrastructure assets are retreating, calls for new players like EXA to step up with a clear focus and the capability as well as the capital to execute. During the process when EXA was created our customers repeatedly reinforced our belief this was the right way forward and we are very excited to commence this journey today,” he said.
The infrastructure now operated by EXA largely results from GTT Communications’ prior acquisitions of Interoute, Hibernia Networks and KPN International. Around 420 employees will move to EXA from GTT, which will continue to focus on its core cloud networking business.
Headquartered in London, UK, the business has 28 offices in 18 countries across Europe. The name EXA is inspired by the exabyte, the unit of measurement for computers of the future. The exascale age will require dedicated infrastructure platforms with unprecedented scale, and the ability to connect to customers however and wherever required.