Internet services firm Concentric Network Corp has agreed to acquire New Jersey-based web hosting company 9 Net Avenue Inc for $54m in stock and cash. San Jose-based Concentric, which mostly targets small- to medium-sized companies, says the deal adds considerably to its web hosting and e-commerce strengths and gives it additional distribution channels. After the deal closes, Concentric reckons it will be the second-largest web hosting provider with over 188,000 registered domains and over 104,000 hosted sites.
9 Net Avenue bills itself as a leading Unix and NT-based hosting provider and claims to have a substantial marketing and direct sales force. Concentric says it will fully integrate the company’s operations into its existing network. In addition to its high-speed DSL access and services offerings for smaller clients, Concentric provides customized virtual private network and data center services for larger organizations, as well as a suite of infrastructure services for application service providers.
