EV1Servers, The Planet Acquired

• By theWHIR.com , May 06, 2006

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EV1Servers, The Planet Acquired

May 6, 2006 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- Two of the largest Web hosting providers in the world have been acquired by investment firm GI Partners (gipartners.com), according to industry sources.

GI Partners, based in Menlo Park, California, reportedly purchased a controlling interest in each of Everyone’s Internet (ev1.net) and The Planet (theplanet.com), both of which are based in Texas.

A report published Saturday morning by the Houston Chronicle quoted Everyone’s Internet CEO and president Robert Marsh as saying, "We're excited about GI Partners' outlook on the industry and think we'll make good partners."

Details of these deals are expected early next week. Both companies will maintain independent operations and, according to industry sources, customers should not notice any immediate service or operations changes.

"The entire management team currently in place at Everyones Internet will stay in place and will be for the foreseeable future," said Marsh. He also said that GI's investment will allow EV1 to continue to bring new products and services to the marketplace.

According to Netcraft's (netcraft.com) Hosting Provider Switching Analysis, The Planet and EV1Servers are the fourth and seventh largest hosting providers in the world, respectively, and the top two dedicated hosting companies. Both companies have experienced massive growth during the past three years. The Planet announced "record sales" for 2005, with revenue growth at 60%.

Over the last several months, Everyone’s Internet has reallocated its marketing dollars and has not been taking on too many new initiatives. The company has pulled sponsorship of Houston Astros foul poles at Minute Maid Park. The company also won't be renewing its three-year sponsorship, which ends this year, of the art car parade or a three-year agreement, which ended last year, giving the company naming rights to the Houston Bowl college football game.

"With a preponderance of our revenue derived from hosting, and much of that from international markets, we are shifting our marketing expenses to venues more likely to reach our target market," Marsh said.

GI Partners specializes in investments in midsized companies and its Web site notes it "typically pursues transactions of $100 million to $500 million in enterprise value where $50 million to $200 million of initial equity can be invested."

The firm has $1.4 billion of capital under management. It also has significant investments in hosting and data center businesses Digital Realty Trust (digitalrealtytrust.com) and SAVVIS (savvis.net).

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