Wednesday, November 10, 2010

SoftLayer, The Planet Complete Merger

The merger between Dallas-based SoftLayer and Houston-based The Planet has completed, according to private equity firm GI Partners. According to GI Partners, the merger creates the largest private hosting and cloud services provider in the world, with over 24,000 customers in 110 countries. The combined firm will operate under the SoftLayer brand name. GI Partners acquired SoftLayer in August, and already owned The Planet. GI Partners said it received debt financing in the transaction from a dyndicate led by SunTrust Robinson Humphrey and RBC Capital Markets, assisted by Societe Generale and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The deal size has not been announced, but has been placed at $500M in enterprise value by Moody's.