Equinix Bought Its Way Into the Philippines. Here's What That Tells Us
Equinix entered the Philippines by buying three TIM data centers for $183M instead of building from scratch, while PLDT defers its Vitro REIT IPO to 2027. A network consultant's take on what global players buying in means for local colocation buyers.
When a global data center operator enters a new country, it can build from scratch or buy what is already there. In the Philippines, Equinix chose to buy, and I think that choice says a lot about where our local data center market is heading.
The deal
On July 22, 2024, Equinix announced its planned entry into the Philippines through the all-cash acquisition of three data centers from Total Information Management (TIM), a local technology solutions provider (Equinix press release). The deal closed on June 2, 2025. In its annual report filed with the US SEC, Equinix says it bought all outstanding shares of TIM NextGen DC Corporation for a total purchase consideration of $183 million (Equinix SEC filing).
The three carrier-neutral facilities, MN1, MN2 and MN3, provide more than 1,000 cabinets of capacity plus land for further expansion, with MN2 alone offering 500 cabinets (Equinix press release). One site is in Makati and two are in Carmona, Cavite (Philstar Tech, BusinessWorld). Equinix has not published a megawatt figure for these sites. TIM exited the data center business but remains a system integrator, according to the 2024 announcement.
Equinix has not announced a new Philippine build. Its executives have told BusinessWorld that the company will fill its existing facilities first, and that it already has the land and utility power at the Cavite site for its next data center (BusinessWorld, Nov 2025, BusinessWorld, Mar 2026).
Buying in vs. cashing out
Compare that with PLDT. Its data center REIT, Vitro REIT, was meant to list this month, but PLDT has deferred the IPO to 2027, citing market conditions and rising interest rates (PLDT disclosure, via SEC Form 6-K). I cover that in a separate post on Vitro REIT.
The two moves are mirror images. The local champion is selling a minority stake in its data centers to raise capital and reduce debt. The global platform paid to get an established footprint and an existing customer base on day one. Each is betting on the same market from opposite ends.
PLDT still has far more sites. Equinix brings something that is hard to copy: one interconnection platform that multinationals already use across dozens of countries. For a regional company, landing in Manila on the same platform it uses in Singapore or Jakarta is a big operational shortcut.
What I'd tell clients
- Competition is good for buyers. A carrier-neutral global operator in Makati and Cavite gives enterprises a real alternative to telco-owned colocation. Use it in negotiations.
- Look past the brand. These are acquired, existing facilities. Ask about power redundancy, cooling, carrier diversity and the actual tier of each site, not just the logo on the door.
- Cabinets are not megawatts. Equinix reports capacity in cabinets and PLDT reports it in megawatts, so headline numbers can't be compared directly. Ask every provider for usable IT power per rack and what density they can actually support. That matters more as AI workloads push densities up.
- Interconnection is the real product. If you need direct links to cloud providers, partners or other carriers, compare cross-connect pricing and on-net options. That is where a global platform and a domestic operator differ most.
Buying beats building when speed matters. Equinix's purchase of TIM's sites tells me global operators see the Philippines as a market they need to be in now, not later. Local operators should take note.
