Verizon closes on Terremark acquisition

Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) said it has closed on its $1.4 billion acquisition of Miami-based Terremark Worldwide Inc., which is expected to bolster the telecommunications provider’s cloud service operations. Verizon noted that Terremark would continue to operate as a wholly owned subsidiary.
The deal was announced earlier this year, with analysts noting the move furthered the push by telecommunications providers into the technology fields.
Verizon said the acquisition will fuel its plans for “everything-as-apservice” to business and government customers around the world. The company added that customers would be able to access both Verizon and Terremark’s respective IT services and cloud offerings as well as allowing current Verizon customers to tap into Terremark’s network access point centers in Miami; Culpeper, Va.; and Santa Clara, Calif.; its facilities in Europe and the United States; and its data center assets in the Dominican Republic, Colombia and Brazil.
“There is a fundamental shift under way in how enterprises consume IT resources, and concluding this transaction is a turning point in Verizon’s push to provide integrated, enterprise-class cloud solutions and accelerate growth in this important segment,” said Robert Toohey, president of Verizon Business, in a statement. “In the coming months, we’ll leverage our collective strengths to roll out a differentiated portfolio of secure, on-demand cloud computing solutions to be delivered through a unified enterprise IT platform.”