Dive Brief:
- Verizon is reportedly considering selling its 14 cloud data centers in a deal that could be worth $3.5 billion, according to a Fortune report.
- Sources say data center operator Equinix is likely the buyer, though Verizon declined to comment on the potential deal.
- The company acquired most of the data centers through its $1.4 billion purchase of Terremark Worldwide in 2011.
Dive Insight:
Verizon has been selling businesses that don’t jive with its strategic plan for the last several years in an effort to streamline offerings. Companies such as Hewlett Packard Enterprise have made similar moves, working to specialize in certain solutions rather than offer a wide array.
Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam has worked to pivot the company to focus more on wireless, IoT and online video and advertising. In July, Verizon announced it was purchasing Yahoo's core operating business for $4.83 billion in cash.
The company initially sought to play a role in the cloud market, but its capabilities were never quite able to compete with the cloud service provider giants like Amazon Web Services and Microsoft. As a result, Verizon appears to be losing interest in chasing the market.
While Verizon made previous appearances on Gartner’s annual "Magic Quadrant" ranking of Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) providers, the company was nowhere to be found on this year’s report, released in August.
