CITIC Telecom Bulks Up in Europe, Central Asia with Linx Buy

Acquisition gives Chinese enterprise services provider 470-km Baltic network.

Chinese ICT provider CITIC Telecom CPC on Thursday agreed to acquire European carrier Linx Telecom.

The deal extends CITIC's presence in Central and Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. Furthermore, the Russian-speaking contingent of Linx's staff brings added competence to the company.

"The acquisition of these important telecommunications assets is significant to our development strategy of expanding business internationally and increasing global network coverage," said Xin Yue Jiang, chairman of CITIC Telecom parent CITIC Telecom International Holdings, in a statement.

Headquartered in Amsterdam, Linx operates a 470-km submarine cable in the Baltic Sea. It owns network operation centres (NOCs) in Moscow and Tallinn, Estonia. Linx also runs a data centre in Tallinn that serves as the country's largest Internet exchange. Linx serves customers in 14 countries.

"By extending our footprint to Russian-speaking markets and Central Asia, we will enhance network access for our existing customers and facilitate greater business growth across Asia and Europe," said Stephen Ho, CEO of CITIC Telecom CPC.