Hong Kong's CITIC Telecom CPC has completed its acquisition of European colocation, data center and cloud services provider Linx Telecommunication, and rebranded the merged company to CITIC Telecom Europe.
CITIC Telecom CPC arranged to acquire Linx in May last year in a deal aimed at helping the company capture opportunities from China's 'One Belt, One Road' initiative.
With the acquisition, CITIC Telecom CPC has become one of the first Asian managed services providers to own points of presence across a multitude of countries among the Digital Silk Road as imagined in the initiative, according to the company's CEO Stephen Ho.
“The company's new name is meant to convey a sense of being a single unified company with aligned capabilities. It not only leverages the excellent brand reputation of its parent company domestically and overseas, but also more accurately reflects the company's enhanced business focus on Europe and the CIS telecommunications arena," he said.
“Furthermore, we are starting a new era by expanding our coverage to 140+ points of presence (POPs) in 130 countries which covers critical locations along the "Digital Silk Road," providing a shorter path and direct connect to the Greater China region.”
High growth areas along the Digital Silk Road include Russia, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan.
China's One Belt, One Road initiatives is backed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Ho said markets along the route offer huge development potential.
“Our mission to connect the world to the Digital Silk Road is closer to fulfillment, as we support customers to invest and operate in Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Russia,” he said, noting that the acquisition of Linx fits well with the strategy.
“In Europe, our partners have expressed how beneficial the acquisition is to them, because some of the services that they are enjoying in Asia are now migrating to this new and exciting area, offering a host of new investments.”
The company is meanwhile enhancing its service infrastructure with new technologies from IT partners including BMC, Fortinet and Juniper Networks.