United Internet, a German ISP and web hosting juggernaut (owners of 1&1, Sedo, Versatel, Mail.com and more), is considering taking its “Business Applications” segment public in approximately two years, the company announced this morning (also see Reuters' coverage). The business unit is expected to contribute sales of around €600 million in fiscal 2015 alone.
United Internet says it is considering the IPO because "the European webhosting/cloud computing market has largely been carved up", and it plans to double down on acquisitions in the future.
Speaking of which: United Internet's 1&1 subsidiary this morning announced its acquisition of Polish web hosting leader home.pl for around 135 million euros in cash. Home.pl, which employs 240 people and has annual sales of approximately €25 million from over 300,000 customers, is led by private equity fund V4C Eastern Europe.
Together with 1&1, which has already been operating in Poland since 2010, the stated objective is "to gain further ground on the Polish market and strengthen the company's leading position in Europe".
Home.pl plans to continue to operate as an independent company under the leadership of its current management team.
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