Akamai buys Intervu. Akamai counts among its investors the likes of Intel, Microsoft, Cisco and Apple. Microsoft is also an investor in InterVu, which fits the pattern of their initiatives in streaming media compression, display enhancements and other industry standards. Akamai uses Intel servers exclusively and the growth of its network currently runs parallel to Intel's own initiatives in server farms.
AXC needs to figure out a way to get into this league.
FOCUS-Akamai to buy InterVu for $2.8 billion
(Adds background, details, quote from InterVu CEO)
NEW YORK, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Akamai Technologies Inc., which provides services that allow for speedy delivery of Web content, said on Monday it had signed a deal to acquire InterVu Inc., which develops systems to deliver video and audio over the Internet, for about $2.8 billion in stock.
Under terms of the agreement, Akamai (NASDAQ: AKAM) will issue about 9.3 million common shares in exchange for all outstanding shares of InterVu (NASDAQ: ITVU) at a ratio of 0.5957 Akamai shares for each InterVu share.
The deal values each InterVu share at nearly $140, well above the stock's Friday closing price of $117 on the Nasdaq stock market. Akamai's shares closed at $235, also on Nasdaq.
Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Akamai will also convert outstanding options and warrants of InterVu into about 2.8 million Akamai options and warrants, the companies said in a statement.
"Our combined company will be poised to become the de facto standard for integrated media delivery services," InterVu Chief Executive Harry Gruber said in a statement. "We are confident that together we will introduce a new generation of streaming, including enhanced performance and reliability, to the Web's top properties."
The move comes less than a month after Akamai announced its first-ever acquisition, the purchase of privately-held Internet broadcast firm Network24 for about $200 million in stock.
The acquisition, which must be approved by regulators and InterVu stockholders, is expected to close in the second quarter, they said.
The combined company will have more than 1,000 customers including Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), IBM (NYSE: IBM), AOL MovieFone (NYSE: AOL) and Apple Computer Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). It will provide services on 100 networks across 40 countries.
Akamai went public in October in one of the more successful IPOs ever, surging 458 percent from an IPO price of 26 to a first-day close of 145-3/16.
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