Movement in the German Hosting Market: Host Europe Acquires Domainfactory

The Host Europe GmbH, a subsidiary of the Host Europe Group, has announced the acquisition of the Bavarian hosting provider Domainfactory, further expanding its growth trajectory.

The company Domainfactory, led by its founders Sara Marburg and Jochen Tuchbreiter, has built an excellent reputation over the past 12 years and is among the leading German hosting providers. Through the merger with Host Europe, they aim to capitalise on the sustained strong market growth and offer customers a wider range of solutions, as stated by the two founders commenting on the acquisition.

With this purchase, Host Europe gains Domainfactory's 173,000 customers, including 1.1 million domains, bringing its total customer base to over 400,000 and managing more than 2 million domains in the German market. This positions the company closer to the German hosting sector leaders, such as the United Internet subsidiary 1&1 and the Telekom subsidiary Strato.

On the European market, the parent company Host Europe Group is already one of the leading providers. Host Europe, with various brands in the UK, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Spain, already boasts over 5 million registered domains and more than 1 million customers.

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Under the ownership of the European Private Equity firm Montagu, which acquired the Host Europe Group in 2010 for 265 million euros, the company achieved solid growth and revenue increase through expanding data centres, introducing new products, and acquisitions. In mid-2013, Host Europe was sold to the investment firm Cinven for 509 million euros, who aimed to gain more market share. In September 2013, Host Europe had already acquired Telefónica Germany Online Services GmbH. The acquisition of Domainfactory marks the second move in a short period in the German market.

Both companies have not disclosed the purchase price. The necessary approval from competition authorities for mergers of this size is still pending.

Source: Host Europe Group