THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Stumble Upon

del.icio.us

Digg

Facebook

Print

Email

Speak Up

FRANKFURT, Germany - German telecoms provider Deutsche Telekom AG said Thursday it will take over Strato, a German Web hosting company.

Deutsche Telekom, based in Bonn, said the boards of both companies had approved the plan but that it still faced regulatory approvals. The companies did not release financial details.

Telekom said the transaction would make it a leader in the German Web hosting market with Strato's products that include and enable Email, Web sites, blogs, online shopping and data storage. Strato's business is primarily aimed at consumers and small businesses.

Strato, based in Berlin, employs 502 staff and operates about 4 million hosted domains.

"This step boosts our position on the highly interesting market for hosting solutions," Niek Jan Van Damme, a Telekom fixed network and mobile business official, said in a statement.

"Strato complements our activities in the hosting area perfectly and will make a positive contribution to net profit, and free cash flow from the very first day of consolidation," Van Damme said.

Shares of Deutsche Telekom were 0.4 per cent lower at C9.65 (US$14.47) in Frankfurt afternoon trading.

-

On the Net:

http://www.telekom.com