Pihana to close isle
headquarters, lay off
53 employees

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Associated Press

Pihana Pacific plans to close its headquarters and lay off or transfer dozens of employees as part of a recently announced merger, officials said.

One of the largest Hawaii-based technology companies, Pihana on Tuesday notified the state Department of Labor and Industrial Relations of its intentions.

The company said it will lay off or transfer 53 of the headquarters' 54 employees by Dec. 3, the expected closing date of its three-way merger with Equinix and Singapore Telecommunications Telemedia.

Under the merger announced last week, Mountain View, Calif.-based data center company Equinix will absorb Pihana's seven data centers into its network.

Pihana human resources director Ryan Okahara said a handful of Hawaii employees will remain at the company's airport data center while others will be offered transfers to offices in Asia or the U.S. Mainland.

Pihana had attracted $240 million in venture capital in 2000 and spent $125 million to set up data centers in Los Angeles, Sydney, Seoul, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Last year, it reported having trouble landing customers in the wake of the terrorist attacks and earlier slowdown in the high-tech industry.