Akamai's rumored $300M Cotendo acquisition could bolster its website service capabilities

Akamai is in the process of adding another weapon to its website performance holster by negotiating a deal to purchase Israel-based Cotendo for $300 million, reports Reuters, citing a Calcalist article.

Since its inception, Cotendo which has a series of products that can accelerate traditional wireline and wireless websites, has raised $39 million from three VCs, including Sequoia Capital, Benchmark Capital and Tenaya Capital.

Thus far, Cotendo is a profitable company. For 2011, the company has forecast $20-$30 million in sales, with a distribution agreement with AT&T (NYSE: T) adding an additional $30 million in revenue to its coffers by 2015. In addition to AT&T, Cotendo also provides services to the likes of Facebook, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) and Google (Nasdaq: GOOG).

Although neither company would comment about any sale, what's interesting is that Akamai sued Cotendo for patent infringement in 2010. Suing competitors and buying them seems to be a growing trend for Akamai, which previously acquired Digital Island and Speedera after suing both for similar issues.  

For more:
- Reuters has this article

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