From time to time the HostingJournalist.com editorial staff publishes a special selection of editorial pieces on a certain topic or trend. The HostingJournalist.com editor’s picks are being marked as #HJPICKS on our social media channels. This week our editors provide you with a Top-10 list of the most interesting news items on the latest mergers and acquisitions within the global cloud, hosting and data center market.
Managed WordPress Provider WP Engine Acquires Flywheel
June 2019 – WP Engine, a global managed WordPress hosting company posting an annual recurring revenue of $132 million at a growth rate of more than 30 percent, has acquired Omaha, Nebraska-based managed WordPress hosting company, Flywheel. Combined, WP Engine and Flywheel will now serve more than 120,000 brands and agencies in 150 countries while counting nearly 900 employees across seven offices globally. Read further.
“On behalf of the WP Engine team, we couldn’t be more excited to join forces with one of the most respected brands in WordPress,” said Heather Brunner, Chairwoman and CEO of WP Engine.
Hosting Companies Combell and TransIP Agree to Massive Merger
June 2019 – Combell Group and TransIP Group have agreed to a merger that will create one of the largest hosting companies in Europe. The combined company will be named ‘team.blue.’ Under the its brand name, team.blue will offer digital tools including hosting, email and applications to over 1.2 million customers across Europe. Its employee count will be over 600 people. Read further.
“We will bring together some of the most experienced people in the industry,” said Jonas Dhaenens, founder of Combell and CEO of team.blue.
VMware Acquires Multi-Cloud Application Delivery Provider, Avi Networks
June 2019 – VMware has acquired Avi Networks, a provider of multi-cloud application delivery services. Avi Networks would further enable VMware to bring the public cloud experience to the entire data center – “automated, highly scalable, and intrinsically more secure” with the ability to deploy applications with a single click.
“VMware is committed to making the data center operate as simply and easily as it does in the public cloud, and the addition of Avi Networks to the growing VMware networking and security portfolio will bring us one step closer to this goal after the acquisition closes,” said Tom Gillis, senior vice president and general manager, networking and security business unit, VMware. Read more.
Elastic Buys Security Company Endgame for $234 Million
June 2019 – Elastic, the company behind Elasticsearch and Elastic Stack, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Endgame, Inc. This security company is focused on endpoint prevention, detection, and response. Elastic will acquire Endgame for a total purchase price of $234 million, s“The combined force of Elastic’s powerful search technology and Endgame’s award-winning endpoint security offering gives customers unparalleled insight into their data for maximum protection,” said Jamie Butler, CTO of Endgame.
“The combined force of Elastic’s powerful search technology and Endgame’s award-winning endpoint security offering gives customers unparalleled insight into their data for maximum protection,” said Jamie Butler, CTO of Endgame. Read more.
Legrand Adds Starline Busway Products to Data Center Portfolio, Completes Acquisition
April 2019 – Euronext Paris listed company Legrand further expands its global data center technology offerings by completing another acquisition and adding Universal Electric Corporation (UEC) to its family of data center brands. UEC is a global provider and developer of flexible, customizable power distribution systems, and manufacturer of the STARLINE and U-S Safety Trolley suites of products.
“Legrand has enjoyed significant growth in the data center market by focusing on best-of-breed product offerings,” said John Selldorff, President and CEO of Legrand, North and Central America. Read more.
QTS Buys Two Data Centers in The Netherlands from TCN for $44M
April 2019 – QTS, a large data center solutions provider with data center presence across North America, has acquired two data center assets, totaling approximately 30 gross Megawatts currently built out, from TCN SIG Telehousing B.V. for approximately $44 million.
“Acquiring strategically located data centers at a competitive price aligns with our overall growth strategy and has clear long-term benefits for our customers and shareholders,” said Chad Williams, Chairman and CEO of QTS. Read more.
F5 Buys Application Delivery Provider NGINX for $670M
March 2019 – Multi-cloud application services company, F5, has acquired privately held NGINX for a total enterprise value of approximately $670 million. The acquisition by F5 is meant to bridge the divide between NetOps and DevOps with consistent application services across an enterprise’s multi-cloud environment. Upon closing of the acquisition, F5 will maintain the NGINX brand.
“F5 gains depth with solutions designed for DevOps, while NGINX gains breadth with access to tens of thousands of customers and partners,” said François Locoh-Donou, President & CEO of F5. Read more.
CBRE Group Acquires Global Data Center Analytics Company Romonet
February 2019 – CBRE Group, a Los Angeles-based Fortune 500 company and one of the world’s largest commercial real estate services and investment firms, has acquired the assets of Romonet Limited – an advanced analytics software company which provides technology and consulting services for large global data center operators. Romonet’s team of professionals will join CBRE as part of the acquisition. Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
“Romonet adds complementary market-leading solutions to our existing platform and will help us to deliver highly differentiated outcomes for our clients across the globe,” said John Dunstan, President, Data Center Solutions, CBRE Group. Read more.
Cloudera, Hortonworks Complete $5.2 Billion Merger
January 2019 – A little more than three months ago, Cloudera and Hortonworks announced that they had an agreement under which the companies will combine in an all-stock merger of equals. Now the merger has been completed. The combined company will deliver and end-to-end data platform, spanning on-premises and multi-cloud, from the edge to AI.
“Today, we start an exciting new chapter for Cloudera as we become the leading enterprise data cloud provider,” said Tom Reilly, chief executive officer of Cloudera. Read more.
DigiCert Completes QuoVadis Acquisition, Expands European Presence and TLS, PKI Offerings
January 2019 – DigiCert, a global provider of TLS/SSL, IoT and other PKI solutions, has completed its acquisition of the QuoVadis Group for $45 million from Swiss cyber security and IoT company, WISeKey. QuoVadis is a Qualified Trust Service Provider (TSP) in the European Union (EU) and Switzerland.
“We are excited to welcome the QuoVadis team and technology to DigiCert, as we look to continue to serve our partners and customers with industry-leading solutions,” said John Merrill, CEO of DigiCert. Read more.
