Web optimization and internet content delivery solutions provider Akamai has beefed up its security offerings by buying DDoS mitigation provider Prolexic for $370 million.
Hollywood, Florida-headquartered Prolexic offers cloud DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) mitigation platform that helps companies in financial, e-commerce, travel/hospitality, gaming, energy and other at-risk industries protect their business by restoring mission-critical Internet facing infrastructures. Its scrubbing centers located in the Americas, Europe and Asia, have a combined bandwidth of over 1.5Tbps. It means a DDoS attack will immediately be re-routed to one of Prolexic's centers, which will have enough bandwidth capacity to analyze it and neutralize it.
By acquiring Prolexic, Akamai hopes to offer customers a comprehensive portfolio of cloud-based security solutions designed to protect the web and IP infrastructure against application-layer, network-layer and data center attacks delivered via the internet.
Per the definitive agreement signed by the two parties, Akamai will acquire "all of the outstanding equity of Prolexic in exchange for a net cash payment of approximately $370 million, after expected purchase price adjustments, plus the assumption of outstanding unvested options to purchase Prolexic stock." The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2014, subject to regulatory approvals.
"By joining forces with Prolexic, we intend to combine Akamai’s leading security and performance platform with Prolexic’s highly-regarded DDoS mitigation solutions for data center and enterprise applications protection," said Akamai CEO Tom Leighton. "We believe that Prolexic’s solutions and team will help us achieve our goal of making the Internet fast, reliable, and secure."
According to Prolexic CEO Scott Hammack, the deal was a strategic one as "being able to rely on one provider for Internet performance and security greatly simplifies resolution of network availability issues and offers clients clear lines of accountability."
"We believe that, together, we will be able to deliver an unprecedented level of network visibility and protection," Hammack said.
Akamai's shares were 0.44 percent down at $44.53 at the NASDAQ during early afternoon trading on Monday.
