Akamai acquires infrastructure-as-a-service provider Linode for $900 million | ZDNet

Akamai announced on Tuesday afternoon that it is acquiring infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) platform provider Linode for about $900 million. 

With the $900 million deal, Akamai will acquire all of the outstanding equity of Linode. The deal will close in Q1 of 2022.

For the entire fiscal year, the acquisition is expected to add about $100 million in revenue. The acquisition will also raise the company’s non-GAAP EPS by anywhere from $0.05 to $0.06. 

Dr. Tom Leighton, CEO of Akamai Technologies, said it is “transformational” for the company to have the chance to combine Linode’s developer-friendly cloud computing capabilities with Akamai’s edge platform and security services. 

“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,” Leighton said. 

“This a big win for developers who will now be able to build the next generation of applications on a platform that delivers unprecedented scale, reach, performance, reliability and security.”

Akamai added that Linode has worked to make it easier, more affordable and more accessible “for developers to consume cloud computing.” By acquiring the company, Akamai said it would become “the world’s most distributed compute platform, from cloud to edge.”

Christopher Aker, founder and CEO of Linode, said the company was created 19 years ago with the goal of making the cloud easier to access. 

“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,” Aker said. 

“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.”

Because the deal was set up as an asset purchase, Akamai said it expects to see $120 million worth of cash income tax savings over the next 15 years.

The company released its earnings statement on Tuesday, reporting a Q4 revenue of $905 million and a 2021 fiscal year revenue of $3.5 billion.