Highlights –
- The deal presents Linode’s developer-friendly cloud computing capabilities with Akamai’s market-leading edge platform and security services for the businesses.
- The IaaS platform will enable developers to build applications that deliver unprecedented scale, reach, performance, reliability, and security.
Akamai Technologies, Inc., the world’s most trusted solution that powers and protects digital experiences, announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Linode, one of the easy-to-use and most trusted Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) platform providers.
Modern digital experiences that include virtual systems like the metaverse are built with the convergence of media, entertainment, e-commerce, technology, financial services, and online games. For decades, Akamai has been a key partner to the world’s leaders in these industries by powering and protecting applications in today’s multi-cloud, multi-platform world. Collaborating with Linode will make Akamai the world’s most distributed compute platform, from cloud to edge, as it will make it simple, affordable, and accessible for developers to consume cloud computing.
According to the deal, Akamai has agreed to acquire all of the outstanding equity of Linode Limited Liability Company for approximately USD 900 million, a result of customary purchase price adjustments. As a result of structuring the transaction as an asset purchase, Akamai expects to realize cash income tax savings of about USD 120 million over the following 15 years. The transaction, subject to customary closing conditions, is scheduled to close in the first quarter of 2022.
Experts’ View
“The opportunity to combine Linode’s developer-friendly cloud computing capabilities with Akamai’s market-leading edge platform and security services is transformational for Akamai,” said Dr. Tom Leighton, Chief Executive Officer and, Co-founder, Akamai Technologies. “Akamai has been a pioneer in the edge computing business for over 20 years, and today we are excited to begin a new chapter in our evolution by creating a unique cloud platform to build, run and secure applications from the cloud to the edge. This is a big win for developers who will now be able to build applications on a platform that delivers unprecedented scale, reach, performance, reliability and security.”
Christopher Aker, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at Linode, added, “We started Linode 19 years ago to make the power of the cloud easier and more accessible. Along the way, we built a cloud computing platform trusted by developers and businesses around the world. Today, those customers face new challenges as cloud services become all-encompassing, including compute, storage, security, and delivery from core to edge. Solving those challenges requires tremendous integration and scale, which Akamai and Linode plan to bring together under one roof. This marks an exciting new chapter for Linode and a major step forward for our current and future customers.”
