European Internet service provider EUnet International BV is continuing the process of consolidating its disparate members under the EUnet International banner, and has acquired EUnet Romania and launched a new operation in Sweden. Four year-old EUnet Romania, based in Bucharest, was the first company to provide commercial Internet services in Romania, and is the market leader there. It currently has several hundred users, mostly corporations, and four points of presence, though more are coming. The new Swedish operation, EUnet Sweden, will take over the management of the existing infrastructure from EUnet Norway, which previously covered Sweden as well. EUnet Sweden says it is aiming to have an estimated 1,000 clients by the end of next year, and further points of presence beyond the existing one in Stockholm. Both companies become wholly-owned subsidiaries of EUnet International, which was established last May to consolidate what was previously a very loosely connected set of European Internet service providers trading under the EUnet name (CI No 2,910). Increasing competition in the market had made the separate companies vulnerable to acquisition from larger predators, with the lucrative UK and German operations being the first to go. EUnet now hopes it is back in expansion mode, with 11 operations spanning 41 countries, and says that further members of the EUnet group are expected to join EUnet International in the near future. The other members are in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal and Switzerland. An initial public offering on NASDAQ is planned next year.
