Deutsche Telekom has agreed to acquire webhosting provider Strato from the telecommunications company Freenet for €275m in cash. It plans to acquire 100% of shares in Strato unit and Strato Rechenzentrum.
Deutsche Telekom said that the transaction will make it the second largest player for web hosting products in Germany. Strato’s products, which include e-mail, websites, blogs, and online shops as well as data storage services on physical and virtual servers, are aimed at consumers and small business customers. The Berlin-based company operates around 4m hosted domains.
Niek Jan van Damme, member of the board of management of Deutsche Telekom for fixed-network and mobile business in Germany, said: This step boosts our position on the highly interesting market for hosting solutions. Strato complements our activities in the hosting area perfectly and will make a positive contribution to net profit and free cash flow from the very first day of consolidation.
Closing of the transaction is subject to usual conditions, in particular the receipt of clearance from the German Federal Cartel Office. The supervisory boards of both companies have approved the transaction.
