Funding fuels acquisition of Fortix, a managed service provider, and for additional expansion and acquisition opportunities.

ViaWest, a provider of colocation and managed hosting solutions, on Tuesday announced that it has secured $31 million in debt financing from a New York financial institution.

The company stated that of the $31 million secured, ViaWest will use $13 million to repay existing debt and fund the immediate acquisition of Fortix, a Portland, Oregon-based managed service provider. The acquisition of Fortix allows ViaWest to enter a third major market with a Tier 1 data center.

The remaining $18 million is earmarked for additional expansion and acquisition opportunities that strategically align with ViaWest's business in its three existing geographic markets or helping the company expand into yet a fourth market.

"ViaWest has successfully completed 16 acquisitions since 1999," said Roy Dimoff, Chairman and CEO, ViaWest. "We are confident in our expansion plans including identifying additional, strategic acquisition targets similar to Fortix that will allow us to enter additional major markets and expand our footprint across the U.S."