Equinix plans to open new centres in New York, Chicago and Washington, DC where it will be opening 2007. "The Honolulu IBX was acquired several years ago as a part of Equinix's acquisition of Pihana Pacific," said Peter Van Camp, CEO of Equinix. "Removing this asset from our portfolio will enable Equinix to continue its traditional focus on top tier markets where we have ambitious expansion plans for 2007 and beyond."

In 2002 three data centre operators - Nasdaq-listed Equinix, Pihana Pacific and Singapore based ST Telemedia were merged with Pihana and ST Telemedia providing millions of dollars to wipe out Equinix's $US150 million debt and leave the combined company with ST Telemedia as its largest single shareholder (33 percent) and tens of million of dollars in cash reserves.

Equinix's Sydney data centre was also acquired in that deal, but the company has given no indication of plans to divest it and recently announced a $5 million expansion https://itwire.com.au/content/view/6961/127/ of the centre that will increase its capacity by 50 percent and add approximately 930 square metres of floor space and 400 cabinets.

The buyer of the Honolulu centre is DR Fortress, a Hawaiian based company set up by former Equinix personnel: Jeff Brown (CEO), Fred Rodi (president), Rosa White (CFO) and Vinh Do (CTO).

The company recently completed its initial round of financing, raising more than $US11 million from a diverse group of debt and equity supporters. Institutional backers included SevenSeas Asset Management Co., AIPA Properties and First Hawaiian Bank."

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DR Fortress says it will provide seamless continuity of all Equinix service offerings to the existing customers of the Honolulu centre including the Internet peering exchange. "The operational, engineering and technical staff for the facility will remain in place, transitioning from Equinix to DR Fortress once the sale is complete. Many of these staff members were part of the original design team that built the centre in 2000," it said.

Vice president of operations, Brian Cox, will supervise the daily activities of the data centre as he has done since the facility was built in July 2000. "Furthermore, to ensure complete operational continuity, all of the Equinix staff have been retained and will continue to administer the security, engineering and technology functions of the facility," DR Fortress said.

DR Fortress also announced plans to immediately increase the current capacity of the Honolulu data centre. It will add 75kW of electrical power and increase cabinet capacity by 15 percent in the first quarter of 2007. It is also planning to develop a series of localised service offerings and increase the capacity of the centre in order to meet the growth demands of customers.