Our investments
Ixeurope
Date of realisation
September 2007
Invest date
January 1999
Independent provider of datacentre services
ACTIVITY
IX Europe (“IXE”) was a pan-European provider of high quality and high connectivity datacentre services for corporates, system integrators, telecommunication companies and internet service providers. IXE developed a network of purpose-built IT and telecom facilities in the major European cities, offering housing, back-up, connection services and business continuity to the specification of different users. The strength of the business was its pan-European approach to being an independent datacentre provider. This produced a predictable, highly reliable, independent service for its 400 customers.
VALUE ADDED STEPS PLANNED
At the time of exit, IXE operated 16 datacentres in the UK, France, Germany and Switzerland. The company had 120 employees and more than 400 blue chip customers and planned to open and acquire further European sites. Management developed a wide range of added-value services in its datacentres for its blue-chip customer base. During Milestone’s ownership, we led three further rounds of funding and IXEurope successfully floated on AIM on 7 April.
On 28 June 2007, Equinix Inc. announced an offer for 100% of IXEurope plc. at which point Milestone fully exited its investment generating a 2.6 times money return on our original investment.
MANAGEMENT
Guy Willner, chief executive, and Christophe de Buchet, chief operating officer, were two young, talented managers with highly relevant and significant experience in the telecom and IT industries. They were attracted by Milestone’s experience in build-ups and platform investments and by Milestone’s skills in understanding an emerging industry. Their enthusiasm and energy was well complemented by Sir Anthony Cleaver, IXE’s then chairman, formerly chairman of IBM Europe, and Karen Bach, Group Finance Director, previously with EDS.
