1&1 Internet (1&1), a subsidiary of United Internet AG, has purchased Polish web host home.pl. The company, whose services include standard and WordPress web hosting alongside email, Virtual Private Server (VPS) and dedicated server options, has its US headquarters in Chesterbrook, Pennsylvania. The acquisition was supported by V4C Eastern Europe – a private equity fund – and the deal was reported as costing €135 million ($150.6 million).
home.pl is established as the web hosting market leader in Poland. The company offers a range of services including web hosting, VPS, SSL certificates and Office 365 options among others. It caters to a broad customer base and manages around 300,000 accounts. Its 2015 sales are projected to be in the region of €25 million ($27.89 million). The purpose behind 1&1's acquisition is to strengthen its position in a growing Polish market and Europe in general.
“With the acquisition of home.pl, we are excellently positioned in Europe with our webhosting and cloud computing products,” explained United Internet's CEO, Ralph Dommermuth. “Especially in Germany, the UK, Spain and Poland, where we are the clear market leader.” He also added, “separate access to the capital market and Applications shares as an additional acquisition currency would make it easier to fund takeovers from equity, as sellers often want to retain an investment in the sector with part of their sales proceeds in order to benefit from future growth and the economies of scale offered by the combined company.”
Do you know of any other companies involved in acquisitions? Let us know the details. Add your comments below.
