Ottawa’s PureColo has been acquired by Carrier Connect Data Solutions in a deal worth $8.5 million. The acquisition closed at the end of November, effectively turning the nation’s capital into one of the largest regions for the publicly traded, Vancouver-based data centre company. The deal brings PureColo’s two Ottawa data centre facilities into Carrier Connect’s […]
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Ottawa’s PureColo has been acquired by Carrier Connect Data Solutions in a deal worth $8.5 million.
The acquisition closed at the end of November, effectively turning the nation’s capital into one of the largest regions for the publicly traded, Vancouver-based data centre company.
The deal brings PureColo’s two Ottawa data centre facilities into Carrier Connect’s portfolio, more than doubling that company’s capacity. For Ottawa, it means PureColo will continue operating under local management, while its two facilities gain access to capital and cross-Canada connectivity.
The acquisition included 4.6 million shares worth approximately $4.4 million, plus $4.1 million in cash.
“Some of the cash went to basically eliminate debt inside of the company, so we’d end up with a clean balance sheet and a very healthy company,” said Mark Binns, CEO of Carrier Connect, in an interview.
For PureColo co-founder Mike Lalonde, Carrier Connect represented the right kind of buyer.
“They had holistically a similar philosophy,” Lalonde told OBJ. “Stay under the radar, not try to compete with all the hyperscalers out there. It was refreshing to find that in a Canadian company.”
The PureColo acquisition more than doubles Carrier Connect’s physical footprint, with the company going from two data centres, located in Vancouver and Perth, Australia, to four.
“We went from about 2.25 megawatts under management to about 6.25 megawatts under management,” Binns said. “We probably tripled our revenue.”
Binns said Ottawa was attractive because it gives Carrier Connect an eastern hub to complement its Vancouver facility.
“We have Vancouver on the west, we have Ottawa on the east,” he said. “When customers come to us anywhere in Canada, we can put them on either end of the country, or we can put them on both, so they have redundancy and backup.”
PurColo’s Ottawa facilities on March Road in Kanata and on Riverside Drive add 2.5 megawatts of capacity across 25,000 square feet, according to Data Centre Dynamics.
Carrier Connect plans to expand to as many as 10 data centres by the end of 2026, meaning more acquisitions in the next year.
“We are in active negotiations with multiple other data centres, both across Canada and also some internationally,” Binns said. “Canada is our primary focus right now in terms of what we’re looking for.
“We’re consolidating the small and mid-tier-sized data centre companies,” Binns explained. “We’re not after or interested in the $100-million data centres.”
Binns said that each acquired facility operates as a wholly owned subsidiary, with its own local staff and management. The corporate parent company handles back-office functions such as finance and payroll.
PureColo’s approximately 60 customers will see no immediate changes to service or operations.
“The customers see no change at all,” Binns said. “It’s a wholly owned, fully running subsidiary. We will invest in the technology, invest in the data centres. If anything, things just got better for the customer base and prospective customers.”
The PureColo brand will remain for the foreseeable future, although Binns said the company may eventually consolidate brands across facilities.
PureColo CEO and co-founder Rainer Paduch will stay through a transition period before moving on to new ventures, said Binns.
Lalonde describes PureColo’s strategy as finding opportunities the big players miss. “There’s all these leftover crumbs, and that’s always been in our DNA” Lalonde said. “Finding the crumbs and making great meals out of them because we are not the big guy.”
Lalonde said the acquisition made sense because going public unlocks new opportunities.
“As a private company, if I do great, it really doesn’t have any impact on our ability to grow,” he said. “But wouldn’t it be great if we were a publicly traded company where those things really start to show value, and there’s shareholders that actually see that and want to be a part of that?”
