BJK Closes on COLO.COM Assets
New owners anticipate "clean slate" with managed services focus

Sept. 25, 2001 -- BJK Investments has finalized its purchase of 22 Internet data centers operated by the bankrupt COLO.COM.
The transaction, which was approved by a San Francisco bankruptcy judge earlier this month, closed Sept. 21. BJK, an investment firm with ties to Global Switch, was the high bidder in an auction for the assets of COLO.COM, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy May 8.
Walnut Creek, Calif.-based BJK hopes to use the data centers as a platform to deliver managed hosting solutions.
BJK plans to work with KeyBridge Corp., a Reston, Va.-based managed services provider founded last November with $60 million in funding from Global Switch. KeyBridge offerings include dedicated hosting, firewalls, data storage and traffic load management.
"To people following telecom news, this might seem like a strange time to be entering the market," said BJK founder Simon Cooper. "But, watching from the sidelines, we saw the economic downturn as an opportunity to get into the market at an excellent price.
"We are now able to enter the market with a complete, nationwide product offering, rather than going through a lengthy and expensive build-out period," said Cooper, who co-founded Global Switch in 1998.
Crippled by a $360 million debt load, COLO.COM filed for bankruptcy promising "business as usual" as it reorganized its finances. But the company was unable to obtain post-bankruptcy debtor-in-possesion financing, and was forced to put its assets up for sale.
"The acquisition really gives us a clean slate with the COLO assets," said Cooper. "We want to make a clean break from what has transpired in the past and move forward with new contracts and procedures in place. We really believe the colocation industry is headed towards integrated managed services."
The new BJK portfolio comprises 450,000 square feet in 21 cities: Beaverton, Ore.; Chicago, Ill.; Dallas.; Fort Worth, Tex.; Emeryville, Calif.; Houston, Tex.; Las Vegas, Nev.; Los Angeles; Milwaukee, Wisc.; New York; Oak Brook, Ill.; Orlando, Fla.; Phoenix, Ariz.; Pittsburgh, Pa.; San Diego, Calif.; San Francisco; Santa Clara, Calif.; Seattle, Wash.; St. Louis, Mo. (2); Sterling, Va. and Vienna, Va.