Akamai acquires Nominum, bolsters carrier, enterprise security portfolio

Akamai has reached an agreement to acquire privately held Nominum, a provider of DNS and enterprise security solutions for carriers, reflecting the company’s ongoing efforts to advance its stance in the growing security services market. 

By acquiring Nominum, Akamai said it will be able to add complementary capabilities to its security product portfolio while expanding its distribution channel to service providers that serve enterprises.

The all-cash transaction is expected to close later this quarter.

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Financial details of this acquisition were not revealed.

Akamai said it expects the acquisition to be dilutive to non-GAAP earnings in the fiscal fourth quarter and 2018 due to integration costs and the impact purchase accounting has on revenue recognition. The dilutive impact in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2017 is expected to be approximately 5 cents, and approximately 11 cents for fiscal 2018. Further, Akamai expects the acquisition to be accretive in 2019.

The company has reiterated its intention to manage the company's EBITDA margins within its previously stated range of mid-30s while it integrates Nominum.

Nominum is just one of several acquisitions Akamai has made in recent years to up its presence in the growing cloud security space. In December 2016, Akamai purchased Cyberfend, a California-based startup specializing in bot and automation detection software.

By acquiring Cyberfend, Akamai extended the capabilities of the Bot Manager software it launched earlier in the year. It is offering online businesses the technology required to effectively distinguish between real customers and attackers.

Earlier, Akamai acquired Bloxx, a provider of Secure Web Gateway (SWG) technology for protecting enterprises and their employees from Internet threats in 2015. The company also acquired Prolexic, a specialist in protecting websites from cyberattacks.