ATandT, Akamai, Juniper Vie for Web Accelerator Cotendo: Report

Akamai is in serious discussions to buy its smaller rival for $300 million, according to a report.

Cloud-based Web and mobile acceleration services specialist Cotendo is being wooed by three companies, according to a report in the Calcalist financial daily reported on Sunday. Cotendo customer AT&T, Juniper Networks and Akamai, a company that develops software for Web content and application delivery, are vying to acquire the company, though the report states specifically that Akamai is in serious discussions to buy its rival for $300 million.

Cotendo recently announced a partnership with Citrix, a specialist in application delivery infrastructure, in which Citrix NetScaler CloudConnector for CDN is offered within the Cotendo Acceleration Cloud. CloudConnector for CDN combines Cotendo's cloud-based acceleration services with Citrix NetScaler to create a platform that seamlessly extends the traditional networking footprint beyond the four walls of the enterprise data center to points of presence all over the world-creating an end-to-end "service delivery fabric." 

NetScaler CloudConnector for CDN securely connects the origin data center and the Cotendo Acceleration Cloud, extending the reach of NetScaler to the Internet edge. CloudConnector relies upon Citrix NetScaler appliances residing within both Cotendo's global point of presence (PoP) network as well as enterprise data centers, creating a secure, high-speed encrypted delivery tunnel. From the data center, through the cloud and ultimately to end users, this end-to-end solution is designed to address content acceleration in a secure environment while having the ability to reduce latency and conserve bandwidth.

In June, Cotendo completed a $17 million private funding round designed to fuel the company's long-term growth strategy and continued technology innovation in the accelerated delivery of highly personalized dynamic content for mobile and Web applications. Strategic investors Presidio Ventures (a Sumitomo company) and (then) new business partners Citrix Systems and Juniper Networks, through its Junos Innovation Fund, participated in this round of funding along with existing venture backers Sequoia, Benchmark and Tenaya Capital.

Citrix and Juniper joined the ranks of Cotendo strategic partners, including AT&T, Google and Sumitomo. With the funding round, Cotendo also embarked on a sales and business development expansion in Asia-Pacific and Latin America to address the growing demand for mobile content acceleration services in places where smartphones frequently replace the PC as a primary computing and networking vehicle.