Akamai is adding more power to its growing cloud and network security services portfolio by reaching a deal to acquire Prolexic, a cloud-based distributed denial of service (DDoS) mitigation provider, for about $370 million in cash.
What makes Prolexic attractive is that it has developed a system that combines DDoS mitigation solutions with security operations to protect data centers and enterprise IP applications.
By purchasing Prolexic, Akamai said it plans to "extend its Web optimization and security offerings by adding cloud-based security solutions for protecting data centers and enterprise applications."
This means it would be able to better respond to business customers' need to secure mission‑critical Web properties and applications from attack and protecting the growing suite of IP applications, including email, file transfers, and VPN that reside in a data center.
After meeting customary closing conditions, including necessary regulatory approvals, Akamai expects the deal to close in the first half of 2014.
Akamai said that the Prolexic acquisition is forecast to be slightly dilutive to its non-GAAP net income per share in the first full year post-closure in the range of 6 to 8 cents. When the acquisition closes, Akamai will include Prolexic in its financial guidance.
The service provider is tapping into a market segment that has some great growth potential.
According to IDC's "Worldwide DDoS Prevention Products and Services 2013-2017 Forecast," distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) and DoS attack mitigation solutions are projected to grow 18.2 percent between 2012 and 2017, reaching $870 million.
For more:
- see the release
- and the IDC study (sub req.)
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