Vocus buys PerthIX data centre

Vocus has expanded its data centre presence to the west coast of Australia, snapping up the PerthIX co-location facility for just under $6.3 million.

In a statement, Vocus said it would pay for the acquisition out of its cash reserves.

Should PerthIX beat its fiscal year 2012 forecasts, the operators would get an "additional performance earn-out of up to $725,000," Vocus said.

PerthIX was expected to contribute earnings before interest and depreciation of about $1.5 million in the 2012 fiscal year.

As part of the acquisition, PerthIX general manager Adam Gardner will stay on as the facility leader. His team will be "integrated into the Vocus technical and operational teams", Vocus said.

Vocus chief James Spenceley said the company would make available 30 racks of space in PerthIX over the next few months.

"There are very few racks available in CBD facilities in Perth, so we expect to see strong demand for the racks as they become available," Spenceley said.

Last year, Vocus set up its data centre business by acquiring E3 Networks' Sydney and Melbourne data centres for $5.9 million.