Gabriel Murphy and Aplus.Net: Another Big Acquistion on the Way

Earlier today I spoke to Gabriel Murphy, who recently acquired - and became CEO of - Web hosting provider Aplus.Net. The interview will appear in the upcoming issue of the WHIR magazine (and eventually on the Web site), but there were a few interesting points I thought it would be worth sharing right away.

As you may know, Murphy founded Communitech many years ago, and at one point owned iNet Interactive, which operated HostingTech and WebhostingTalk.

We talked about his recent investment in Aplus.Net, and his plans for making that company into a force, in terms of technology and scale, in the Web hosting business.

A big part of that plan to add technology and scale involves acquisition. And he hinted at some upcoming news to that effect.

Murphy and Catalyst Investors bought Aplus.Net quietly in July of 2006, but didn't officially announce the deal until December. Part of the reason for that, he says, was that they were waiting to announce another acquisition at the same time.

He said the new deal is about 45 days away. And about that deal, he said this:

"We're not buying $5 million to $10 million hosting companies. Were looking to scale. We're looking at substantial Web hosting firms in terms of size."

You heard it here first (I think): expect Murphy and Catalyst to announce another "substantial" acquisition about a month from now.

Tags: gabriel murphy, aplus.net