Data Center Sold Cheap

Last year, DSL ISP Vitts paid $3.5 million for a New Hampshire data center. On Tuesday, FactSet, a Connecticut financial data firm, bought it for $600,000.

by Colin Haley of boston.internet.com [August 2, 2001]

Last fall, Vitts Networks, a Manchester, N.H., digital subscriber line service provider, unveiled its new $3.5 million data center. The event was replete with the usual cast of characters: beaming execs, chamber of commerce types, and pols.

U.S. Rep. John Sununu (R-NH) hailed the 12,750-square-foot Queen City facility, saying it represented "the future of New Hampshire's economy."

Let's hope not. Just months after the grand opening, Vitts ran out of money and began haggling with the state over how quickly it could liquidate. The firm laid off nearly all of its 300-person staff, reportedly giving workers one hour to clean out their desks.

Yesterday, a bankruptcy court judge approved Vitts' sale of the building and lease to FactSet Research Systems , a Greenwich, Conn., supplier of financial and economic data to the investment community.

The price? A mere $600,000. For FactSet, Vitts' loss is FactSet's gain.

"Building such a facility has been part of our growth plan for the last several years," said Townsend Thomas, FactSet's CTO. "We are pleased to have been able to acquire the data center for less than 20 percent of our estimated construction cost of a comparable facility."

The company will move in November 1, at which time it will close down its midtown Manhattan data center. So not only does it get a new building at a cut rate price, it also saves lease money.

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