Rackspace Adds Multi-Cloud Heft with Datapipe Acquisition

Rackspace has reached an agreement to acquire managed services competitor Datapipe, expanding its management capabilities for multiple clouds at scale, according to an announcement today.

The deal is the largest acquisition Rackspace has ever made “by far,” according to CEO Joe Eazor, and brings to it Datapipe’s experience with high-profile public sector customers in the U.S. and U.K., as well as enterprise services, software, and tooling, and colocation services on four continents, to help customers migrate away from corporate data centers.

It also boosts Rackspace data center presence on the U.S. West Coast, and in Brazil, mainland China, and Russia, all large markets where the company currently has little or no presence. Finally, it gives Rackspace managed services on the Alibaba Cloud.

“The reason we’re buying them is that we want to extend our leadership in multi-cloud services,” Rackspace chief strategy officer Matt Bradley told TechCrunch. “It’s a sign and signal that we’re going for it.” Bradley also said that the combined company will be the largest provider both of private cloud and managed hosting. It will have over 6,700 employees, and $2.4 billion in annual revenue, TechCrunch reports.

Datapipe customers gain Rackspace’s experience with Microsoft, VMware and OpenStack clouds, Managed Google Compute Platform, and managed enterprise applications such as Oracle and SAP.

“Our customers are looking for help as they spread their applications across public and private clouds, managed hosting, and colocation, depending on the blend of performance, agility, control, security, and cost-efficiency they’re seeking,” said Eazor. “With the acquisition of Datapipe, we’re very pleased to expand the multi-cloud managed services we provide our customers, while also opening doors to new opportunities across the globe.”

Abry Partners, the majority owner of Datapipe, receives Rackspace equity in the deal, which is expected to close in Q4, according to the announcement. It may not be clear until after that happens what will happen with Datapipe’s strategic channel partnership with Equinix.

Datapipe acquired U.K. managed services company Adapt a year ago, extending its European presence and multi-cloud integration expertise.

Rackspace also acquired consulting and managed cloud company TriCore Solutions earlier this year.

Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.