Carrier Hotels: TrizecHahn Announces huge global carrier hotel push

TrizecHahn Announces Huge Carrier Hotel Push

CarrierHotels.com News Staff

TORONTO (April 4) - TrizecHahn today unveiled an ambitious plan to build a global network of telecom operations facilities, partnering with Britain's Chelsfield Plc to acquire a controlling interest in London-based Global Switch International Ltd. for $320 million.

Global Switch is a provider of facilities management services for high-tech clients including fiber carriers, telecom companies, Internet service providers and applications service providers. TrizecHahn and Chelsfield are providing $160 million apiece, which will enable Global Switch to expand beyond its core markets in Europe.

"Combining forces with Chelsfield will enable us to make Global Switch one of the dominant players of this sector globally," said Peter Munk, TrizecHahn's Chairman and CEO. "With this initiative, we will continue our transition into the new economy. We are very excited about Global Switch, whose business growth is tied directly to that of the general bandwidth expansion."

TrizecHahn said the deal was driven by the explosive expansion of the market for carrier hotels and "telehouses," as these facilities are known in Europe.

"The customers for this kind of product are undergoing rapid international expansion in their own businesses and need an international supplier of facilities management," TrizecHahn said in announcing the deal. "At present, carrier hotels tend to be developed on a `one off` basis. As a result, there is no truly global provider of this type of facility.

"TrizecHahn and its partners will create a global network of `telecom hubs`. The new expanded Global Switch will offer its customers `one-stop global shopping` to meet rapidly growing facilities needs as well as on-going and future requirements for secure, reliable support for operations."

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