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ViaWest’s $1.2 billion sale to Canadian telecommunications company Shaw Communications was a big event for Colorado. Not often do company acquisitions end in the word billion. Though the effect of the data center company’s sale on the state will only be known after time passes, Nancy Phillips, CEO, president and co-founder, sees a lot of upside and believes now was the right time to sell.
“When you find the right type of partner for long term growth strategies that have the right type of aligned interests, and clearly they [Shaw Communication] have an interest in the company, it makes sense to sell,” said Phillips. “They like the data center infrastructure space. And our ability to bring expertise as a service provider and help develop the Canadian market just made a lot of sense.”
Shaw Communications' fiber-optic networks combined with ViaWest’s data centers should offer a compelling package to businesses within the United States and Canada. There are many opportunities for the two companies to cross-sell their products to each other’s customers. Merged together they may also have economies of scale advantages that could make their enterprise products more inexpensive and appealing to prospective customers.
“Having a true North American presence is also a pretty compelling value prop as well,” said Phillips. “There are some interesting economic corridors developing between Colorado and Canada. There are some interesting opportunities for new accounts.” Oil and gas, as well as other sectors, are increasingly doing business between Denver and Canada; Via West’s Colorado headquarters is well positioned to capture business up and down that area.
Though ViaWest will soon be owned by a Canadian company, they will continue to be headquartered in Denver. “The fact that ViaWest is going to stay headquartered in Colorado is a pretty positive outcome,” said Phillips. “We think it is a pretty enduring story and one that feels good for the state of Colorado. We are very interested in not only growing in our existing market but also ramping up the head count."
From its Denver headquarters, ViaWest will be extending its reach to the East Coast, hopefully adding new customers in that region within the next six months. ViaWest’s technology will also be powering new data centers in Canada, a country the company previously did not have a presence within. “We plan on not downsizing but growing and will be funded and supported by a very public and strong financial partner,” said Phillips.
“Its always nice to have a Colorado-born company realize such a great milestone." Phillips said. "It is always a positive. It puts a spotlight on Colorado startups and show they can really thrive in this community.”
