Fresh off landing a high-profile video hosting deal with Netflix
Privately held Brightcove is famous for setting its customers up to handle online video content in new ways including display technologies, monetization tools, and publishing services. The customer list is long and rich, including such media luminaries as Walt Disney
While Akamai is no stranger to many of these companies to begin with, its video delivery services could always use some free marketing; that's what this kind of contract provides. High-definition video streams and downloads are among the most bandwidth-hungry online applications, and Akamai wants to be known as the solution for online traffic bottlenecks.
Just like in the Netflix scenario, Limelight Networks
If Akamai likes what it sees in this partnership, I would not be surprised to see a buyout happening down the road. The company has more than $500 million of cash equivalents on hand and no long-term debt at all. Google
I think the wholesale combination would be much stronger than Brightcove filing for a separate IPO and Akamai getting on with just a partnership. Akamai is a screaming buy anyway but could always get even stronger. Would it be worth getting into debt for? Discuss in the comments below.