US-based cybersecurity firm Akamai buys IaaS patform provider Linode for $900 mn

US-based content delivery network and a cybersecurity company Akamai today announced that it has acquired an infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) platform provider Linode for $900 million. Akamai said that it is buying Linode to “become the world’s most distributed compute platform, from cloud to edge,” and expects Linode to add about $100 million in revenue for its fiscal year 2022.

Tom Leighton, co-founder and CEO, Akamai, said, “The opportunity to combine Linode’s developer-friendly cloud computing capabilities with Akamai’s market-leading edge platform and security services is transformational for Akamai.”

Linode will continue to operate as usual for the time being and the company says that Akamai has “no intention of changing what has made us successful.”

“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. 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,” Leighton added.

Launched in 2003, Linode quickly made a name for itself as an affordable place to rent virtual private servers before Amazon Web Services (AWS) entered into the cloud computing business. Today, Linode offers all the core cloud services. The company was founded and led by Christopher Aker.

Aker, regarding the Akamai’s definitive agreement to acquire Linode, said, “We started Linode 19 years ago to make the power of the cloud easier and more accessible. 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. 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.”

Currently, Akamai has a security business worth $1.34 billion and a $2.13 billion content delivery network business. The company also plans to combine Linode’s technology with the company’s existing edge application and net storage capabilities to form a new compute division.