[Thehostingnews] Yahoo! to Acquire E-Mail Hosting Firm, Zimbra

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Sunnyvale, California - (The Hosting News) - September 18, 2007 - Global Internet company, Yahoo! Inc., has entered into an acquisition agreement with e-mail hosting and software firm, Zimbra, for approximately $350 million.

The definitive agreement aligns with Yahoo!'s intention to extend expertise to universities, small and medium-sized businesses and service provider partners. Jerry Yang, Chief Executive Officer at Yahoo! Inc. offered, ''Our industry-leading communications products, including Yahoo! Mail, are critical to the future growth and success of Yahoo! Zimbra's tremendous talent and innovative technology will help to extend our core Mail offerings, further strengthening our strong leadership position in this space. Additionally, Zimbra's successful relationships with large ISPs are key as we expand our worldwide partner network and continue to focus on our commitment to being the partner of choice.''

Following the acquisition, Zimbra will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Yahoo!. Satish Dharmaraj will continue to lead the Zimbra team based in Yahoo!'s Sunnyvale headquarters and will report to Brad Garlinghouse. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval. It is expected that the transaction will be completed in the fourth quarter of 2007.

The acquisition of Zimbra is hoped to assist Yahoo! with its expansion by enabling it to offer Zimbra's AJAX-based e-mail, calendar, and contact management features that can be used both on and offline. The open platform is believed to enhance the user experience by enabling creative mash-ups called Zimlets that tie in web services to e-mail, which may be tailored according to customer requirements.

Satish Dharmaraj, Co-founder and CEO of Zimbra commented, ''We are excited to combine ourselves with one of the world's most successful web mail services and extend Yahoo!'s credible brand and leadership in the e-mail business to universities, businesses and ISPs globally. With Yahoo!'s ad and content network, the possibilities for Zimlets and other applications are endless.''

Yahoo! Mail celebrates its 10th anniversary this year and continues to be a popular web mail service with 250 million users (according to comScore World Metrix, July 2007). The service provides people with more ways to connect and is fully integrated with Yahoo!'s many other services to facilitate access to Internet services.

Brad Garlinghouse, Senior Vice President, Communications and Communities at Yahoo! Inc. noted, ''As an industry leader, we are constantly approached for different e-mail solutions. With Zimbra, we will bring the security, reliability and anywhere access of Yahoo! Mail to people at school, work and home, further enhancing our leadership position in web mail.''

Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global Internet brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo!'s mission is to connect people to their passions, their communities and the world's knowledge. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

Zimbra is a leading provider of collaboration software for universities, businesses and service providers. Zimbra's rich AJAX interface is available on or offline to dramatically improve the collaboration experience. Zimbra is available on-premise or on-demand through our extensive hosted partner program.


Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global Internet brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide.

To learn more about Zimbra, please visit: www.zimbra.com.


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