Cyxtera Technologies, a company founded in 2017 by former Terremark CEO Manuel Medina, was built on the former CenturyLink and Savvis data center portfolio. Cyxtera's business model combines data center colocation with network security.
The CenturyLink deal tied the Cyxtera and Centurylink companies together. CenturyLink is now one of Cyxtera's biggest customer and CenturyLink also holds a 10% stake in Cyxtera. The deal also provided cash for CenturyLink's acquisition of Level 3 Communications in 2017.
A consortium led by private equity firms BC Partners and Medina Capital formed Cyxtera through the acquisition of a data center footprint and associated colocation business from CenturyLink along with four companies that comprised Medina Capital's Security and Analytics portfolio – Cryptzone, Catbird, Easy Solutions and Brainspace – in a $2.8 billion transaction.