Oh no, you're thinking, yet another cookie pop-up. Well, sorry, it's the law. We measure how many people read us, and ensure you see relevant ads, by storing cookies on your device. If you're cool with that, hit “Accept all Cookies”. For more info and to customize your settings, hit “Customize Settings”.

Review and manage your consent

Here's an overview of our use of cookies, similar technologies and how to manage them. You can also change your choices at any time, by hitting the “Your Consent Options” link on the site's footer.

Manage Cookie Preferences
  • These cookies are strictly necessary so that you can navigate the site as normal and use all features. Without these cookies we cannot provide you with the service that you expect.

  • These cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you. They perform functions like preventing the same ad from continuously reappearing, ensuring that ads are properly displayed for advertisers, and in some cases selecting advertisements that are based on your interests.

  • These cookies collect information in aggregate form to help us understand how our websites are being used. They allow us to count visits and traffic sources so that we can measure and improve the performance of our sites. If people say no to these cookies, we do not know how many people have visited and we cannot monitor performance.

See also our Cookie policy and Privacy policy.

This article is more than 1 year old

CenturyLink said to have pondered Rackspace buy

Report says bit barn buyout rumour believable

US telco CenturyLink is said to be considering an attempt to acquire Rackspace, according to Bloomberg.

The newswire's report is sparse: nobody is saying anything concrete and folks familiar with the situation are the source.

Let's try to guess what's afoot here. CenturyLink already operates a 57-strong global bit barn network and a range of infrastructure-as-a-service offerings and makes much of its hybrid cloud credentials. The company is on track for a US$18bn year.

Rackspace's paltry nine bit barns and US$2bn-or-so revenue doesn't look too attractive, especially at its current valuation of about US$5.3bn. But Rackspace has reportedly asked its bankers to consider the company's future, because the burn rate needed to get into the cloud business is horrendous and the margins are thin.

So what does Rackspace have that CenturyLink does not? Three things:

  • A cool brand and credibility with developers
  • OpenStack skills
  • World-class support processes

The first is nice to have. The second is very handy, as OpenStackers keep telling us that they are making serious progress within enterprises. The third is hard to gauge: Rackspace promotes itself as possessing unusual operational cunning, but whether its processes are so exceptional they represent an asset worth acquiring is anyone's guess.

Whatever the truth of the matter, the appearance of a story like this on a financial newswire is not always an accident. Watching the share prices of the two companies come the resumption of trading on Monday may offer as many clues to what's going on here as anything else. ®

 

Similar topics

TIP US OFF

Send us news


Other stories you might like