speedera networks , founded in 1999 , was a content delivery network ( cdn ) company that emerged in the late 1990s to advance technology applications for internet communications and collaboration and became the first cdn to turn a profit .

a cdn is a distributed computing platform for global internet content and application delivery , and some of the advantages it brought to the internet and online users was dynamic imaging , flash video , faster website download times , increased site performance and improved business continuity and uptime .

speedera added a layer of security to web sites , resulting in reduction of risk of distributed denial-of-service attacks and bandwidth hijacking .

speedera networks

speedera networks - speedera networks , provides distributed application hosting and content delivery services for organizations in both industry and government . | startup ranking
speedera networks ( akamai ) is on angellist , where the world meets startups .
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speedera networks , provides distributed application hosting and content delivery services for organizations in both industry and government .
network services agreement - speedera networks inc . and avenue a inc . - sample contracts and business forms
in addition , by combining forces with speedera the two firms will end their legal battle that began in 2002 when akamai sued speedera , claiming that speedera’s cdn services infringed on akamai patents .
in a stock - for - stock deal valued at about $ 130 million , speedera networks inc . is being acquired by akamai technologies inc .
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ayraka networks is a global provider of software - defined networking products , headquartered in california us . the company was co - founded in 2009 by ajit gupta , who previously founded speedera networks - a cdn provider that was acquired by akamai in 2005 .
once akamai owns speedera , it says , all the lawsuits will be dropped .
limelight networks , 614 f . supp . 2d 90 ( d . mass . 2009 )
cambridge , ma | akamai technologies , inc . ( nasdaq : akam ) today announced it has completed its acquisition of speedera networks , inc . , a privately held . . .
distil networks is the global leader in bot detection and mitigation focused on stopping automated attacks to make the web more secure . - distil networks is the first easy and accurate way . . .
the acquisition would end a series of nasty legal battles between the two competitors which have seen the fbi raid speedera ' s offices and speedera sue akamai for making false statements .
favors consumers services , like diamond retailer blue nile , photo sharing site photobucket , and online game site playfirst . successes : sold speedera networks to akamai technologies , sygate technologies to symantec .
speedera has billed itself as a lower - cost alternative to akamai . in 2002 , when akamai initially sued speedera , claiming the company ' s cdn services infringed on akamai patents , speedera had a promotion running on its web site in an effort to lure akamai customers to its service . at that time , akamai also accused speedera of unfair competition , and later that year filed a lawsuit accusing speedera cto richard day of breaking into a protected akamai database .
customers of aryaka networks include , or have included china airlines , skullcandy , gopro and dover corporation .
vikas holds several patents in the area of content distribution networks , cloud computing and global traffic management .
the news last week that akamai technologies had acquired speedera networks confirmed two things : the deal will end the companies ' bitter rivalry and the content delivery market has matured out of its turbulent adolescence .
speedera team bangalore staffers wave
aloha
as speedera networks is flying its entire workforce to hawaii to knit together a global corporation through team - building and social bonding . the company recently generated its highest quarterly revenue growth in its history since being founded in 1999 . ( photo : business wire )
content delivery specialist akamai technologies wednesday announced it plans to acquire rival speedera networks , a move designed to boost akamai’s standing against larger managed services vendors by expanding its network reach and its portfolio of services .
“the growing demand for speedera services continues to fuel our momentum as speedera captures more market share and adds new global customers every month , ” said ajit gupta , president and ceo of speedera networks . “the growth of our network traffic is exceeding the overall growth of the internet , as outsourced solutions for content delivery increasingly become the norm . our financial trajectory continues to be upward and to the right . ”
until that time , the two companies will operate separately . as for speedera customers , they should see little change once the deal closes , says ajit gupta , president , ceo and founder of speedera .
as of june 13 , 2005 , speedera networks , inc . was acquired by akamai technologies inc . speedera networks , inc . provides distributed application hosting and content delivery services for organizations in both industry and government sectors . its family of on - demand services solves the performance , scalability , availability , and security problems of distributed applications and web sites . the company was founded in 1999 and is headquartered in santa clara , california .
the federal bureau of investigations raided the offices of santa clara - based networking equipment maker speedera networks on june 24 , 2002 , responding to a complaint filed by akamai . the probe is related to akamai ' s allegations that speedera ' s co - founder and chief technology officer , richard day , stole akamai trade secrets .
on this page you can find an overview of the features and pricing of akamai and aryaka networks . we hope this helps you compare these two content delivery networks . you can find additional tips that help you select the right cdn here .
in the last 12 months , speedera ' s workforce has more than doubled , including strong growth in the company ' s speedera india subsidiary , which officially launched last september . speedera ' s india operations include a full range of corporate functions : sales , marketing , finance , human resources , technical support , and research and development .
lee , dan ,
akamai buys rival speedera ,
san jose mercury news , march 17 , 2005 .
speedera networks , a provider of content delivery services , has announced it has signed a definitive agreement to be acquired by us - based akamai technologies , in a stock - for - stock merger transaction valued at approximately $ 130 million .
that could result in more expensive services overall , leong points out . while smaller players , including mirror image , netli and limelight networks , remain , the bulk of the cdn business has been going to akamai and speedera for some time .
speedera networks , inc . is a leading global provider of distributed application hosting and content delivery services . the company ' s speedsuite family of services provides on - demand services that cost - effectively solve the performance , scalability , availability and security problems of distributed applications and web sites . speedera ' s edge delivery network is deployed in the americas , europe and the asia - pacific region , with connectivity to over 1 , 000 carrier networks , controlled by a patented global traffic management system .
in february 2002 , akamai sued another competitor , speedera networks , inc . (
speedera
) , alleging that speedera ' s universal delivery network infringed several akamai patents , including the ' 703 patent . ( see civ . a . no . 02 - 10188 - rwz ( d . mass . ) , docket # 1 . ) the case settled in mid - 2005 after the district court ' s order on claim construction but before any other decision on the merits .
akamai and speedera provide businesses with a distributed platform for accessing web computing without having to make significant investments in infrastructure .
akamai technologies , inc . ( nasdaq : akam ) and speedera networks inc . announced today that the two companies have signed a definitive agreement for akamai to acquire speedera in a stock - for - stock merger transaction . the closing of the transaction , which is subject to customary closing conditions , including regulatory approvals and the approval of speedera ' s stockholders , is expected to occur in the second quarter of 2005 . the acquisition is expected to be accretive on a normalized , diluted per share basis * in 2005 .
law360 ( march 17 , 2005 , 12 : 00 am est ) - - akamai technologies has acquired rival speedera networks for $ 130 million in a deal that resolves the two companies’ bitterly fought patent and trade - secrets litigation , which had reportedly become prohibitively expensive .
vikas garg is the senior vice president of engineering and operations at aryaka networks . vikas has more than 20 years of experience in computer networking with more than 10 years of design , development and management experience in the cdn industry . previously , vikas was the vice president of engineering at cdnetworks , heading their global research and development efforts . he was the vice president of engineering & operations at speedera networks , prior to its acquisition by akamai technologies . at speedera , vikas helped to build one of the largest content delivery networks in the industry . before that , vikas held senior engineering development and management roles at wave systems , distinct corporation , microsoft , and punjab wireless systems .
ajit ' s first successful venture was a company he founded in 1999 - speedera networks . speedera became one of the fastest growing private companies in silicon valley and in the north american technology industry in five years , as ranked by both deloitte & touche and pricewaterhousecoopers . in 2004 , he successfully launched speedera india in bangalore to drive the company’s accelerated global expansion . speedera was acquired in 2005 by akamai technologies ( nasdaq : akam ) for a stock transaction worth more than $ 500 million one year later . after speedera , he founded aayuja ( urltoken ) , a technology sales acceleration company , serving as its ceo . he is currently chairman of the company . he is also the chairman and founder at jantakhoj , an india - based , comprehensive people search engine and background verification service .
speedera networks , formed in 1999 , raised around $ 50 million in three rounds of funding . the company posted revenues of $ 8 . 28 million for the second quarter of the fiscal - ended december 2004 , a growth of 49 per cent year - on - year .
a statement issued by the company said the acquisition of speedera is expected to enable akamai to better compete against larger managed services vendors .
about speedera networks speedera networks , inc . is a leading global provider of distributed application hosting and content delivery services . the company ` s speedsuite family of services provides on - demand services that cost - effectively solve the performance , scalability , availability and security problems of hosting distributed applications and web sites . speedera ` s edge delivery network is deployed in the americas , europe and the asia - pacific region , controlled by a patented global traffic management system . customers include leading organizations such as american eagle outfitters , doubleclick , fox broadcasting , macromedia , mcafee , nasa , sony music and univision . the company ` s channel partners include softbank broadmedia / club it , bt , vsnl , hewlett - packard , abovenet , and inflow . for more information about speedera , please call 408 - 970 - 1528 , visit urltoken or email info @ speedera . com . to request a white paper , please click on http : / / urltoken / reqtechpaper . htm . to request a demo , please click on http : / / urltoken / reqdemo . htm .
before joining google , chris held a number of executive roles at one of the world’s largest streaming and digital media distribution companies , speedera networks ( acquired by akamai technologies ) , and was ultimately responsible for their legal and corporate development efforts . prior to speedera , chris was an attorney with the silicon valley law firm of fenwick & west where he handled venture capital , mergers & acquisitions , and licensing transactions for technology clients such as macromedia , verisign , and kleiner perkins .
for the near foreseeable future , nothing will change in the bangalore centre or for speedera . it will be business as usual . the bangalore centre was one of the biggest attractions for akamai since they did not have a presence in india ,
said abhay dubey , managing director , speedera when contacted .
trinity ventures has invested in more than 100 ventures , including such leading companies as affinity labs ( acquired by monster . com ) , aruba networks ( arun ) , bix ( acquired by yahoo ! : yhoo ) , blue nile ( nile ) , crescendo communications ( acquired by cisco : csco ) , extreme networks ( extr ) , forte software ( frte ) , intruvert networks ( acquired by network associates : nwk ) , loopnet ( loop ) , modulus video ( acquired by motorola : mot ) , network alchemy ( acquired by nokia : nok ) , photobucket ( acquired by news corporation : nws ) , sciquest , speedera networks ( acquired by akamai technologies : akam ) , starbucks ( sbux ) , sygate technologies ( acquired by symantec : symc ) and wall data ( wall ) . for more information visit www . trinityventures . com .
in the cdn industry , akamai technologies is a large player . the company holds a variety of cdn related patents , and is no stranger to patent infringement disputes . in 2005 akamai technologies acquired competitor speedera , a move that ended a long - lasting dispute over speedera - held patents . additionally , akamai has been in a dispute with limelight networks since 2006 over an alleged patent infringement - a case that came to an end in august 2015 , with limelight being held liable for the infringement .
for the last twelve years , mr . swildens has worked in silicon valley as an entrepreneur and venture capital investor . this includes starting and managing his own software company ( microline software – acquired by blaze software ) and acting as a value added board member and consultant to the founders and ceo of speedera networks ( acquired by akamai ) , ncircle network security , stepup commerce ( acquired by intuit ) , discovery mining ( acquired by interwoven ) , etc . most recently mr . swildens founded industry ventures , a leading secondary fund that currently holds investments in over 90 companies and 100 venture capital funds . some of the notable realized investments include cambridge display ( acquired by sumitomo ) , speedera networks ( acquired by akamai ) , trados ( acquired by sdl ) , watchfire ( acquired by ibm ) , and rendition networks ( acquired by opsware ) .
the acquisition appears to be a good deal for akamai , which eliminates a primary competitor and gains access to some 350 companies , as well as a presence in india . speedera last fall opened operations in bangalore , and has 50 of its 125 employees there , says ajit gupta , speedera ' s president , ceo and founder .
urltoken provides an extensive overview of content delivery networks & cdn companies worldwide . compare cdns , compare cdn features and choose the most suitable network to optimise your business ' web performance .
as further proof of market acceptance of its offerings , the software & information industry association in january named speedera a codie awards finalist for its new distributed application hosting service . last october , speedera , for the second year in a row , was named by pricewaterhousecoopers as one of the fastest growing private companies in silicon valley . during that same month , speedera was also named a rising star on the 2004 deloitte technology fast 500 , a ranking of the 500 fastest growing technology companies in north america .
) - - may 9 , 2005 - - speedera networks inc . , a leading global provider of on - demand distributed hosting and content delivery services , today reported that as a reward for exceeding its business goals and as a means of more tightly linking its global team speedera would be flying its entire worldwide staff and their families to a well - earned four day stay at a hawaiian resort destination . the bulk of the employees will travel during may , while operations and support staff will travel on a staggered schedule . speedera ' s team members are highly distributed , as the company operates with dual headquarters with virtually all corporate functions being mirrored in both silicon valley and in bangalore , india .
one nettlesome concern for akamai that continued to trouble the company in 2004 was its involvement in costly litigation to protect intellectual property . initially akamai fought with competitor digital island , and the matter continued with cable & wireless after the latter acquired digital island . akamai won a patent infringement suit in 2002 . but in that same year , akamai became embroiled in a patent dispute with santa clara , california - based speedera networks , with both parties trading lawsuits and countersuits . akamai accused speedera of stealing trade secrets , while speedera called akamai a legal bully . in march 2005 both sides were weary of the distraction and the legal costs and , after six months of negotiations , agreed to settle their differences by joining forces . in a $ 130 million stock deal , akamai acquired speedera and quickly began to merge their operations and grow the combined company . in an odd way , the litigation was a benefit . according to speedera ' s ceo ajit gupta ,
we have been joined at the hip through litigation , so we know each other very well .
but before that , arjun worked in the music sector ; the content delivery space , with speedera networks ( later bought by akamai technologies ) , as well as e - learning . he then chose to start on his own , in the digital education space . however , challenges of partnering with universities and high churn rates caused him to lose his team and eventually shut shop .
speedera ` s financial growth has been reflected by a steadily growing traffic on its network , which rose approximately 150 % over the course of 2004 , driven by increased business use of the internet and wider adoption of rich , multimedia content . in fact , during a 24 - hour period in december of 2004 , speedera delivered more than 15 billion web requests , making it one of the largest companies in the world delivering web content . because of its network ` s robust , globally distributed architecture , speedera was able to deliver the content flawlessly .
as the founder , president and ceo , ajit is responsible for building the aryaka vision and guiding the company’s strategy . he has more than 25 years of experience in management , sales , support and professional services . prior to aryaka , ajit founded aayuja inc . , a strategic technology sales acceleration company , serving as its ceo . ajit achieved notable success for the creation of a world - class internet company , speedera networks , in 1999 . under his leadership , speedera became one of the fastest growing private companies in silicon valley and in the north american technology industry in five short years , as ranked by both deloitte & touche and pricewaterhousecoopers . in 2004 , he successfully launched speedera india in bangalore to drive the company’s accelerated global expansion . speedera was acquired in 2005 by akamai technologies ( nasdaq : akam ) for a stock transaction worth more than $ 500 million . ajit has also held various positions at oracle , sybase and resonate .
microsoft made a high - profile move last week acquiring groove networks for an undisclosed sum and adding groove ' s virtual peer - to - peer software to its ever - growing portfolio of collaboration software .
my colleagues and i at speedera are very proud of what we have accomplished since the company ' s founding ,
said ajit gupta , president , ceo and founder of speedera networks .
we have built a global network , acquired hundreds of customers , and delivered great services that make it possible for our customers to operate more successful online businesses . when we join forces with akamai , our customers will have access to an even larger , global network and a wider portfolio of leading - edge services supported by a combination of the most experienced teams in the industry .
network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for providing a confidential data exchange among entities communicating through data packet networks wherein the data content is protected , e . g . by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
the closing of the transaction , which is subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory approvals and the approval of speedera ' s stockholders , is expected to occur in the second quarter of 2005 .
( dx1072 . ) gordon testified that , although he had general discussions with wood about the speedera lawsuit , no one at akamai ever indicated that limelight ' s cdn infringed any akamai patents .
randy barr is a seasoned security and it veteran with more than 20 years of information technology and leadership experience . randy is the chief security officer at aryaka networks and leads the company’s global security and it operations .
part of the reason for the revenue growth is that both companies have been rolling out more sophisticated services . for example , speedera last month introduced flexcomputing to host enterprise applications and accelerate their delivery .
under the terms of the deal , akamai will exchange 12 million shares for all of privately held speedera ' s outstanding shares , its company - granted stock options and its india - based subsidiary .
accounting for a large portion of the world’s web traffic , akamai’s intelligent cloud computing platform is built on top of 200 , 000 servers , in over 110 countries , within more than 1 , 400 networks in the world .
today , his hr automation platform hirealchemy ( under its parent brand edge networks ) is an active part of the recruitment process for five multinationals firms in india , including names like wipro , hcl , dell and microland etc .
while the company ` s commercial ventures have generated strong gains , speedera has simultaneously deepened its commitment to charitable organizations through its “giving back” program , particularly in light of the indian ocean tsunami tragedy in december 2004 . speedera is currently supporting such organizations as unicef , urltoken ( raising money for tsunami victims ) , goodwill . org , autism . org , urltoken and st . jude children ` s research hospital .
akamai ( nasdaq : akam ) , of cambridge , mass . , says the acquisition of privately held speedera , of santa clara , is expected to enable akamai to better compete against larger managed services vendors .
this will be the second time that the company has paid for a trip for employees to a tropical destination : in 2003 , speedera flew its employees to maui to celebrate the company achieving profitability in 2002 .
aryaka , the aryaka logo , smartconnect and smartcdn are trademarks or registered trademarks of aryaka networks , inc . in the u . s . and / or other countries . all other trademarks are the property of their respective owners .
santa clara , calif . –feb . 2 , 2005 - speedera networks , a leading global provider of on - demand distributed application hosting and content delivery services , today reported financial results for its second fiscal quarter ended december 31 , 2004 . revenue for the second quarter was $ 8 . 28 million , up 20 percent from the previous quarter and a 49 percent increase over second quarter 2003 revenue of $ 5 . 56 million . speedera ` s revenues continue to grow at approximately double the growth rate of its industry overall , while notching record profits in the quarter that represented a 296 % increase over the net income of the same quarter a year prior .
on this page you can find an overview of the features and pricing of cdnvideo and akamai . we hope this helps you compare these two content delivery networks . you can find additional tips that help you select the right cdn here .
gordon smith , speedera ' s vice president of marketing , said in a phone interview with the business journal in 2002 that akamai ' s claims against the santa clara firm and its co - founder had no merit .
the combination of akamai and speedera will provide customers with the best attributes of both companies ,
said paul sagan , president and ceo - elect of akamai .
akamai and speedera are customer - focused companies that emphasize leading - edge technology development to help businesses and government agencies to deliver more effective , higher performing , and lower cost websites and online applications . we believe that this combination will benefit our customers , employees and shareholders .
it began its operations in india in 2003 and employs around 52 people in their bangalore centre , which does everything from engineering to marketing and business development . speedera ' s customers in india include rediff , wipro and ndtv .
the acquisition of speedera is expected to enable akamai to better compete against larger managed services vendors . akamai and speedera provide businesses with a cost - effective , distributed platform for accessing web computing and capacity on demand worldwide without having to make significant upfront investments in infrastructure . the acquisition also will provide customers with a broader suite of services available on the world ' s largest , high - performance distributed computing platform for the delivery and acceleration of web content and applications .
akamai has been the leader in the content delivery arena since it created the market in the late 1990s . speedera was launched a year after akamai , in 1999 , and positioned itself as a lower - cost alternative , but was never able to draw significant share away from akamai . by merging with speedera , akamai is picking up about 350 customers to add to some 1 , 300 current clients . it also will gain infrastructure and technical expertise , broders says .
dubey refused to give details on whether the speedera brand will die and how the management structure will change , saying there were still many things to be worked out and clarity on such issues will emerge only in the next two weeks .
under the terms of the agreement , akamai will acquire all of the outstanding stock options of speedera and its bangalore - based , wholly - owned subsidiary . the closing of the transaction is expected to occur during the second quarter of 2005 .
in 2003 , ajit established a philanthropy program for speedera called
giving back
, which provided free internet infrastructure services to non - profit organizations including unicef . org , goodwill industries international , autism . org , and the st . jude children ' s research hospital . under his leadership , speedera assisted unicef during the 2004 indian ocean earthquake and tsunami by providing pro - bono services to enable unicef websites to accept contributions and to help victims and families communicate with each other .
company description : founded in 1986 , trinity ventures partners with passionate entrepreneurs to transform revolutionary ideas into reality . with over $ 1 billion under management , trinity ventures was founded on the principle of personal engagement and mutual respect with the entrepreneurs we fund . trinity ventures focuses on early stage technology ventures with a particular emphasis on digital media , saas , mobile and social commerce , and cloud / mobile infrastructure . trinity ventures has invested in such leading companies as affinity labs ( acquired by monster . com ) , aruba networks ( arun ) , bix ( acquired by yahoo ! : yhoo ) , blue nile ( nile ) , urltoken ( crcm ) , crescendo communications ( acquired by cisco : csco ) , extreme networks ( extr ) , forte software ( frte ) , intruvert networks ( acquired by network associates : nwk ) , loopnet ( loop ) , modulus video ( acquired by motorola : mot ) , network alchemy ( acquired by nokia : nok ) , new relic ( newr ) , photobucket ( acquired by news corporation : nws ) , sciquest ( sqi ) , speedera networks ( acquired by akamai technologies : akam ) , starbucks ( sbux ) , sygate technologies ( acquired by symantec : symc ) , tubemogul ( tube ) , wall data ( wall ) , and zulily ( zu ) .
as for speedera , which became profitable in 2003 , it reported revenue for the second quarter of $ 8 . 28 million , up by half when compared with the same quarter a year ago . the company says its net income tripled when compared with the second quarter of 2003 .
speedera networks , inc . is a leading global provider of distributed application hosting and content delivery services . the company ' s speedsuite family of on - demand services cost - effectively solves the performance , scalability , availability and security problems of distributed applications and web sites . speedera ' s edge delivery network is deployed in the americas , europe and the asia - pacific region . customers include leading organizations such as american eagle outfitters , circuit city , doubleclick , fox broadcasting , macromedia , nasa , and univision . channel partners include softbank broadmedia / club it , abovenet , vsnl , hp and sungard . for more information , please call + 1 408 - 970 - 1528 , visit urltoken or email info @ urltoken . to request a white paper , see http : / / urltoken / reqtechpaper . htm . to request a demo , see http : / / urltoken / reqdemo . htm .
sacca did not , however , make for a natural lawyer . as an associate at fenwick & west ' s silicon valley office he sat in on a meeting one day with john doerr , the famed partner at venture firm kleiner perkins caufield & byers .
it became obvious to me that the investing side was where the action was .
let go during the dot - com bust , sacca wound up cold - calling members of the forbes midas list for a job , with no luck . finally he landed at a startup , speedera networks , helping to fend off continual lawsuits from its larger rival akamai .
this trip makes good on a promise i made to our employees that if we pulled together to achieve our business targets , then we ' d all be on a beach in may ,
said ajit gupta , president , ceo and founder of speedera networks .
we well exceeded our targets , and so our entire workforce from the united states and india will come together for a few days in hawaii . it ' s an opportunity for both teams to bond more tightly and to celebrate in the true spirit of a global company , which we believe will in the long run make us an even more cohesive and productive company .
akamai will host a conference call to discuss the acquisition of speedera networks today , march 16 , 2005 at 8 : 45 a . m . eastern time , that can be accessed through 1 - 888 - 689 - 4521 ( or 1 - 706 - 645 - 9202 for international calls ) . a live webcast of the call may be accessed at urltoken in the investor section . in addition , a replay of the call will be available for one week following the conference through the akamai website or by calling 1 - 800 - 642 - 1687 ( or 1 - 706 - 645 - 9291 for international calls ) and using conference id no . 4835686 .
network architectures or network communication protocols for network security for providing a confidential data exchange among entities communicating through data packet networks wherein the data content is protected , e . g . by encrypting or encapsulating the payload applying encryption by an intermediary , e . g . receiving clear information at the intermediary and encrypting the received information at the intermediary before forwarding
for years , the cdn market has been mired in legal battles , not the least of which has been the back - and - forth between akamai and speedera . the two , which defined the cdn market when they were launched just one year apart in the late 1990s , have been archenemies in and out of the courtroom .
yu p s et al :
performance study of a collaborative method for hierarchical caching in proxy servers
, computer networks and isdn systems , nl , north holland publishing . amsterdam , vol . 30 , no . 1 - 7 , 14 april 1998 ( 1998 - 04 - 14 ) , pages 215 - 224 , xp004121425 , issn : 0169 - 7552
the deal , subject to customary closing conditions , is expected to be finalized in the second quarter . it is a stock - for - stock transaction valued at about $ 130 million . under terms of the deal , akamai will issue about 12 million shares in exchange for all of speedera’s outstanding stock and stock options and its india - based wholly owned subsidiary .
aidan is a finance executive and strategic leader with more than 25 years of experience in global technology companies within the software , networking , and telecommunications industries . aidan has held cfo positions at cliqr technology ( cisco ) , gigamon , sylantro systems ( broadsoft ) and tasman networks ( nortel ) . he has extensive experience scaling companies to significant growth , establishing business processes and systems , and executing to an exit strategy .
under terms of the agreement , akamai will acquire all of the outstanding common stock , preferred stock , and vested and unvested stock options of speedera and its india - based , wholly - owned subsidiary by issuing approximately 12 million shares of akamai common stock , which implies the transaction was valued at approximately $ 130 million based on the closing sale price of akamai ' s common stock as reported on the nasdaq stock market on march 15 , 2005 . the merger transaction is designed to be effected as a tax - free reorganization for speedera stockholders and is expected to be accounted for by akamai under the purchase method of accounting . all pending litigation between the two companies is stayed upon signing of the deal and will be formally dismissed when and if the deal is closed .
leighton testified that akamai began to investigate the possibility that limelight was infringing its patents in mid - 2005 because limelight was starting to be a serious competitive threat and because the speedera litigation had been resolved . the investigation concluded about the time the parties renewed their acquisition discussions . while the negotiations were ongoing , akamai refrained from instituting any legal actions , but limelight ' s disinclination to be bought removed such restraints .
“i’m not a technologist” is how ajit gupta , founder and ceo of networking company aryaka , starts our interview . it’s quite a statement from a man responsible for building a world - class internet company , speedera networks , which was acquired by akamai technologies at a market value of $ 500 million and then starting a wide area networking technology company that is disrupting the major players in the industry . he also holds 12 patents for technology that brings together content delivery and global traffic management . oh , and he also hold a graduate degree in electrical engineering from the university of alabama and an undergraduate degree in engineering from the indian institute of technology . along the way he has reinvented the way small and mid - sized businesses can easily and cheaply take advantage of wide area network ( wan ) technology to help build their businesses . so much for not being a technologist .
“while we are extremely pleased that speedera is benefiting from diverse and balanced sources of revenues from its customers worldwide , we also think that it is our responsibility to give back to the community that allows us to exist in the first place , ” gupta added . “our hearts go out to the victims of the indian ocean tsunami , and to people in need everywhere . we encourage charitable organizations to contact us to participate in our giving back program . ”
mike hoffman is the chief revenue officer and senior vice president of global sales at aryaka . he is responsible for business growth and customer success and has over 30 years’ experience in networking technology . hoffman recently served as chief revenue officer for big switch networks , where he expanded the business to double revenues and produce six consecutive record quarters . he spent six years at gigamon , where he was vice president of worldwide sales and increased revenue from $ 20m to $ 140m , to secure the company’s ipo .
it ' s good for [ the companies ] . it ' s just simple consolidation . it ' s less good for us customers in that it takes away a competitive option , reducing our leverage ,
says an akamai customer who asked not to be named .
speedera was an important alternative supplier . but that said , in general akamai has been a good partner to us , and we ' ll probably see some benefit from their increased size and scale .
gary sevounts is the chief marketing officer at aryaka networks , and is responsible for aryaka’s global marketing efforts . sevounts brings nearly 20 years of marketing executive expertise to aryaka , as he has built multiple successful brands , award - winning products , and effective revenue generation models – from venture - backed startups to global corporations . he has extensive experience with software and saas products in the it infrastructure and security space , as well as marketing and sales technology , having held marketing and product management leadership roles with a number of industry leaders .
defendant limelight networks , inc . (
limelight
) seeks relief from a jury finding of patent infringement and an award of $ 45 . 5 million in damages to plaintiffs akamai technologies , inc . , and the massachusetts institute of technology ( hereinafter the singular
akamai
) based on the defenses of inequitable conduct , laches , equitable estoppel and unclean hands . it also moves for reconsideration of my earlier denial of its motion for judgment as a matter of law (
jmol
) . after careful consideration of the evidence presented at the november 2008 bench trial and the
not only is ajit “not” a technologist , but he is the furthest thing from being retired—a station in life he was supposed to have attained after building and selling several successful companies , of which the speedera acquisition by akamai is most notable . as ajit’s wife told him after his first attempt at retirement , “you’re just not wired for this . ” ever restless to solve new problems and overcome new challenges , ajit was ready jump once more into the fray . but his journey to silicon valley technology start - up impresario is as interesting and fascinating as the man himself .
the company ` s strong financial results are expected to continue , driven by an expanding market and the launch of several new services that should drive revenue and profits even higher . these offerings include distributed application hosting , an addition to its existing family of flash streaming services , and an e - commerce enabling solution . the market ` s growing acceptance of outsourcing the delivery of web content and the hosting of distributed applications has enabled the company to expand its business with existing clients as well as add new customers — speedera now has approximately 350 customers , and the number continues to rise .
on february 10 , 1998 , sandpiper networks , inc . (
sandpiper
) filed a united states patent application for a content delivery system . just under a year later , sandpiper filed an international patent application with the world intellectual property organization under the patent cooperation treaty (
pct application
) containing the same specification as its earlier united states application . the pct application was published on august 12 , 1999 . although sandpiper ' s united states application was filed before akamai ' s provisional application , sandpiper ' s patent , united states patent no . 6 , 185 , 598 ( the
' 598 patent
) , did not issue until february 6 , 2001 , after the ' 703 patent issued . [ 7 ]
however , muniauction did establish a new data point on the continuum between an arms - length relationship and vicarious liability for determining direction or control . in bmc resources , as discussed supra , the court ' s reasoning left open the possibility that evidence of direction or control might be found from the provision of
instructions or directions
regarding the use of the data the defendant provided to the debit networks . 498 f . 3d at 1381 . it similarly suggested that the lack of a contractual relationship between the defendant and the financial institutions was relevant in finding a lack of direction or control of the latter ' s actions by the former . indeed , in opposing limelight ' s original motion for jmol , that is exactly how akamai summarized the law on joint infringement :
through 2009 sacca continued to make savvy individual investments in companies like kickstarter , twilio and lookout , until he started running out of cash . he ' d joined google too late to make tens of millions . hans swildens , an old contact from his speedera days , was running a firm called industry ventures in town . swildens liked what he saw in sacca ' s angel investments and suggested he raise a fund . industry would sign the first check for lowercase capital , joined by google friends like mayer and , improbably , schmidt .
it ' s easy to forget now , but in 2009 or 2010 early - stage stuff was still risky - feeling , and the market was still a big question mark ,
says investor brad feld , a mentor and eventual investor in the fund .
the release contains information about future expectations , plans and prospects of akamai ' s management that constitute forward - looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the private securities litigation reform act of 1995 , including statements about the anticipated closing of the acquisition and the expected future business and financial performance of akamai resulting from and following the acquisition . actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward - looking statements as a result of various important factors including , but not limited to , material adverse changes in the financial conditions or operations of speedera , substantial delay in the expected closing of the proposed merger , inability to secure all regulatory and stockholder approvals necessary to effect the proposed merger and other factors that are discussed in the company ' s annual report on form 10 - k , quarterly reports on form 10 - q , and other documents periodically filed with the sec .
the ' 598 patent is directed to similar systems and methods [ as the ' 703 patent ] for increasing the accessibility of web pages on the internet . the ' 598 patent was filed on february 10 , 1998 , and issued on february 6 , 2001 . thus the ' 598 patent is prior art to the ' 703 patent pursuant to 35 u . s . c . § 102 ( e ) . c & w marketed and sold products embodying the ' 598 patent under the name
footprint .
the relevant difference between the disclosure of the ' 598 patent and akamai ' s preferred embodiment disclosed in the ' 703 patent is the location of the load balancing software . akamai ' s preferred embodiment has the load balancing software installed at the dns servers , while the ' 598 patent discloses installation of the load balancing software at the content provider , or origin , servers . the ' 598 patent does not disclose or fairly suggest that the load balancing software can be placed at the dns servers . it is now understood that placement of the software at the dns servers allows for load balancing during the resolving process , resulting in a more efficient system for accessing the proper information from the two server networks . indeed , c & w later created a new product ,
footprint 2 . 0 ,
the systems subject to the permanent injunction ,
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akamai ceo , dr . tom leighton , discusses second screen viewing , online shopping trends and the future of the internet .
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as the world’s largest and most trusted cloud delivery platform , akamai makes it easier for its customers to provide the best and most secure digital experiences on any device , anytime , anywhere . akamai’s massively distributed platform is unparalleled in scale , giving customers superior performance and threat protection . akamai’s portfolio of web and mobile performance , cloud security , enterprise access , and video delivery solutions are supported by exceptional customer service and 24 / 7 / 365 monitoring . to learn why the top financial institutions , online retail leaders , media and entertainment providers , and government organizations trust akamai , please visit urltoken , urltoken , or @ akamai on twitter .
akamai technologies to participate in the j . p . morgan global technology , media and communications conference
as businesses and government agencies strive for a more dynamic and interactive presence on the web , and as they migrate more business processes online , leading technology analysts have identified that the demand for outsourced content and applications acceleration solutions will continue to expand . to compete online , enterprises must ensure that their customers , suppliers and partners receive a fast , reliable , scalable and secure web experience .
conference call scheduled wednesday , march 16 at 8 : 45 a . m . est
akamai® is the leading global service provider for accelerating content and business processes online . more than 1 , 300 organizations have formed trusted relationships with akamai , improving their revenue and reducing costs by maximizing the performance of their online businesses . leveraging the akamai edgeplatform , these organizations gain business advantage today , and have the foundation for the emerging web solutions of tomorrow . akamai is
the trusted choice for online business .
for more information , visit www . akamai . com .
* in addition to the financial measures prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles ( gaap ) , we use certain non - gaap financial measures , including normalized eps . akamai defines
normalized net income ( loss )
as net income ( loss ) before amortization of intangible assets , equity - related compensation , restructuring charges and benefits , certain gains and losses on equity investments , and loss on early extinguishment of debt . akamai considers normalized net income ( loss ) to be another important indicator of the overall performance of the company because it eliminates the effects of events that are either not part of the company ' s core operations or are non - cash .
we exclude these items because they are outside of our normal operations and , in certain cases , are difficult to forecast accurately for future periods . we believe that the inclusion of such measures helps investors to gain a better understanding of our core operating results and future prospects , consistent with how management measures and forecasts the company ' s performance , especially when comparing such results to previous periods or forecasts .
akamai ' s guidance as to the expected impact that the acquisition will have on akamai ' s earnings per share is only provided on a normalized basis . it is not feasible to provide the expected impact that the acquisition will have on a gaap basis because the items excluded are difficult to predict and estimate and are primarily dependent on future events , such as the determination of the portion of the purchase price attributable to identifiable intangible assets and the amortization thereof and decisions concerning the location and timing of facility consolidations .
referred to by the companies as a merger , the agreement also puts an end to longstanding legal disputes between the two firms .
“it’s almost like the capulets and montagues have kissed and made up , ” says counse broders , principal analyst for internet and managed services at current analysis . “they have been such major rivals . ”
“akamai is getting clients , and that seems to be the biggest factor here , ” says broders . “but to a lesser extent , they’re also getting rid of some of those lawsuit issues . it lets them focus now on the bigger market and not have to worry about their next court case . ”
all pending litigation between the companies is stayed and will be formally dismissed once the deal closes , the companies said in a statement .
in a letter to customers , gupta assured clients that the merger was in their best interest .
“our customers will benefit from the efficiencies of pooling the two companies’ resources after the closing : people , technology , understanding of the market and global network coverage , ” he wrote .
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