group.ONE to acquire Hostnet

The businesses are highly complementary given their focus on private customers, small to medium enterprises (‘SMEs’) and small office home offices (‘SOHOs’) and given that one.com is a leading web hoster across Northern Europe including Benelux and Hostnet operates principally in the Netherlands.

Founded in 1999 and headquartered in Amsterdam, Hostnet is a leading webhosting provider in the Netherlands with a hosting-led proposition focused on SMEs. It employs approximately 130 staff and serves over 210,000 customers. In particular, Hostnet is focused on mass-hosting with a product suite that targets both non-technical and technical users including: domain-only, webhosting, WordPress, email hosting, Office 365 and Virtual Private Servers (‘VPS’) on both a Managed and an Unmanaged basis. Hostnet has maintained a strong focus on customer service and success with industry-leading satisfaction metrics and customer support.

This transaction is the third major acquisition as part of one.com’s buy and build strategy which started under Cinven’s ownership, following the acquisitions of SYSE in February 2020 and Digital Garden in September 2019. As part of the Group’s growth strategy, and with Cinven’s support, one.com is looking to continue expanding both organically and through acquisitions into its core markets of the Nordics, Benelux, the UK and the DACH region as well as other geographic regions.

Both organisations benefit from an exceptional degree of similarity and overlap including (but not limited to) mass hosting products with focus on reliability and quality of product and service, rapid historical organic-only growth, cultural proximity. These strong similarities, together with one.com’s single platform story will therefore maximise the collaboration and strengthen the partnership between the companies.

Stephan Wolfram, Group CEO of one.com, said:

“We are pleased to announce the acquisition of Hostnet given its focus on operational excellence and high brand awareness. As a result of this transaction, we are now a leading operator in the Dutch hosting market that is core to the development of our business strategy. We look forward to working with the team at Hostnet and significantly enhancing our European presence and product range for our customers.”

Harold Douwes, Founder and CEO of Hostnet said:

“Hostnet is a highly regarded player in the hosting market with capabilities, awareness and products that will contribute to further accelerate the development of one.com’s business. Within the consolidating hosting market, it was important for Hostnet to connect with a strong partner. We found it in one.com, an ambitious party with a lot of knowledge and experience. This offers plenty of possibilities and opportunities for the future.”

Thomas Railhac, Partner at Cinven commented:

“Cinven has a strong track record of successfully growing businesses through a structured buy and build strategy. We are excited about this acquisition as it represents a milestone for one.com becoming a market leader in the Dutch region, and is a clear example of the Group’s ambitious future growth plans.”