Akamai to acquire Ajit Gupta founded Speedera for $130 million
By siliconindia   |   Wednesday, 16 March 2005, 20:30 IST
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SANTA CLARA, CA: Akamai Technologies Inc, a provider of distributed application hosting and content delivery services will acquire Speedera Networks Inc in a stock-for-stock transaction. The closing of the transaction is expected to occur in the second quarter of the year. The acquisition of Speedera will enable Akamai to compete better against larger managed services vendors. Speedera provides businesses with a cost-effective, distributed platform for accessing Web computing and capacity on demand worldwide without having to make significant upfront investments in infrastructure. The acquisition also will provide customers with a broader suite of services available on the world's largest, high-performance distributed computing platform for the delivery and acceleration of Web content and applications. As businesses and government agencies strive for a more dynamic and interactive presence on the Web, and as they migrate more business processes online, leading technology analysts have identified that the demand for outsourced content and applications acceleration solutions will continue to expand. To compete online, enterprises must ensure that their customers, suppliers and partners receive a fast, reliable, scalable and secure Web experience. "The combination of Akamai and Speedera will provide customers with the best attributes of both companies," said Paul Sagan, president and CEO-elect of Akamai. Akamai was founded in 1998, and Speedera was founded in 1999. "My colleagues and I at Speedera are very proud of what we have accomplished since the company's founding," said Ajit Gupta, president, CEO and founder of Speedera Networks. "We have built a global network, acquired hundreds of customers, and delivered great services that make it possible for our customers to operate more successful online businesses. When we join forces with Akamai, our customers will have access to an even larger, global network and a wider portfolio of leading-edge services supported by a combination of the most experienced teams in the industry." Under terms of the agreement, Akamai will acquire all of the outstanding common stock, preferred stock, and vested and unvested stock options of Speedera and its India-based, wholly-owned subsidiary by issuing approximately 12 million shares of Akamai common stock, which implies the transaction was valued at approximately $130 million.

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