In a consolidation of content delivery network players, Akamai is purchasing rival Cotendo for $268 million in cash. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2012.
Cambridge, Mass.-based Akamai is the great granddaddy of CDNs while Cotendo, of Sunnyvale, Calif., was seen as a leaner, younger competitor that leveraged outside data centers so it could concentrate on building and delivering web content acceleration services. Akamai fields 95,000 servers worldwide and delivers between 15 percent and 30 percent of all Internet traffic. But the CDN landscape is changing as more players — including some of the world’s largest telcos — enter the arena.
The news was not totally shocking — there had been rumors that Cotendo was in play with Akamai on a list of several possible suitors that also included Juniper Networks and AT&T – two of Cotendo’s partners.
In the statement announcing the deal, Akamai CEO Paul Sagan said:
As we look to accelerate growth across the dynamic landscapes of cloud and mobile optimization, we are excited to be joining forces with Cotendo. Cotendo’s technology, partnerships and people are a strong complement to Akamai. Together, we believe there is tremendous opportunity for our combined technologies as enterprises embrace the move to the cloud and seek solutions for an increasingly mobile world.
The world of CDN is definitely changing with the proliferation of connected devices and sensors.
Feature photo courtesy of Flickr user 401K
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