Being sovereign also means not being able to be bought. France-IX belongs to an association, which makes any acquisition difficult, if not impossible. Because what happened to Solvinity must not happen to us.
In November 2025, the American company Kyndryl announced the acquisition of Solvinity.
This previously sovereign Dutch cloud provider operated DigiD, the national authentication system for Dutch citizens. And it hosted infrastructure for the Ministry of Justice.
Overnight, all the sovereignty guarantees Solvinity offered its customers became void: US jurisdiction, exposure to the Cloud Act…
Fortunately, the Dutch government opened an urgent investigation and blocked the deal.
This example shows how important it is to remain sovereign in the future, regardless of changes in shareholders or takeover bids.
To guard against this situation, France-IX is 100% owned by FRNIX, a non-profit association. And that is where everything is decided:
- an association cannot distribute its assets to shareholders;
- it cannot sell its business to make a profit or satisfy a financial return.
This model is not unique to France-IX. Other IXPs in France and abroad successfully use the same model: an association owns and steers the operating company.
This structural answer is an excellent way to preserve our sovereignty at every level.
The FRNIX association
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