Interxion nets s200 million to continue roll out

Internet exchanges were undoubtedly Europe’s private equity flavour of the month’ in September: barely a week after CityReach announced its $155 million third-round finding, Interxion of the Netherlands completed a s200 million private equity funding through the sale of Series B preferred stock.

This funding round brought in new investors including Goldman Sachs Capital Partners 2000, the GS-sponsored Whitehall Real Estate Funds, DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners II, CSFB’s private equity and real estate funds and its technology group, Enron Broadband Services, Continuum Group and Aman Ventures. These groups participated alongside existing investors Baker Communications Fund II, Navis Partners V, Bear Stearns, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, Paribas Deelnemingen and Residentie Investments.

Like IXEurope, which announced a GBP40 million funding this month, Interxion operates carrier-neutral Internet exchange centres, and the firm is aiming to position itself as a leader in the European co-location and web hosting market, which Industry observers expect to grow from $1.8 billion this year to $12.3 billion by 2005.

The company already operates 11 Internet exchanges in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Paris, Brussels, Dusseldorf, Copenhagen, Stockholm and Vienna and is in the process of establishing six further centres throughout Europe. As well as secure equipment hosting services, Interxion offers a range of value-added services including interconnections between customers, equipment installation, operation and maintenance, managed storage services, bandwidth trading and news and caching services.

The new capital, as well as supporting the continuing roll-out of Interxion’s Internet exchanges, will be used to implement other elements of the firm’s business plan, including the development of new service offerings and the recruitment of additional managers and technical personnel.