Managed cloud computing company
Rackspace Hosting (Rackspace) has been acquired by private equity company Apollo Global Management LLC (Apollo Global). Known for its “Fanatical Support”, Rackspace has headquarters in San Antonio, Texas, United States. The company has found it difficult to compete in an industry that favors unsupported cloud services and it sold its cloud hosting business to web host and cloud services provider Liquid Web earlier this month. Apollo Global’s cash acquisition was reported to be in the region of $4.3 billion.
With headquarters in New York, United States and a 25-year history, Apollo Global bills itself on being a “leading global alternative investment manager” that prides itself on being “contrarian, value-oriented investors in private equity, credit and real estate”. The company’s acquisition, announced last Friday, added 4 percent to Rackspace’s shares. Rackspace had been in a period of transition, shifting away from competing with the likes of Amazon Web Services, Microsoft and Google, to being a company that provides services that help businesses migrate to the larger cloud players’ infrastructures. Becoming private again will allow the company to complete its transition.
"This transaction is the result of diligent analysis and thoughtful strategic deliberations by our board over many months,” explained Rackspace Board Chairman and Co-founder, Graham Weston. ”Our board, with the assistance of independent advisors, determined that this transaction, upon closing, will deliver immediate, significant and certain cash value to our stockholders. We are also excited that this transaction will provide Rackspace with more flexibility to manage the business for long-term growth and enhance our product offerings. We are confident that as a private company, Rackspace will be best positioned to capitalize on our early leadership of the fast-growing managed cloud services industry," he added.
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