The Register sure has some pretty observant readers. Apparently one of them noticed an early preview of a deal which has been forged two months ago but was only to be announced tomorrow: Parallels acquired ModernGigabyte, the makers of billing software ModernBill and other automation solutions for the hosting provider market.
From the website section about the deal, which is supposed to be shared with the press starting tomorrow:
What is Parallels announcing?
Parallels is announcing the acquisition of ModernGigabyte, the creators of the ModernBill automated billing system.
What is Parallels acquiring?
Parallels is acquiring all of the assets of ModernGigabyte, including its products, services, intellectual property, and its existing staff. ModernGigabyte products include:
- ModernBill, a billing system for hosting and service providers
- ModernAuthorize, a real-time payment and credit card processing service
- SSL Factory, an automated delivery system for SSL cetificates
- ModernDNS, an automated domain registration service
- FraudGuardian, a real-time fraud checking service for online ordering
Why did Parallels acquire ModernGigabyte?
Parallels believes that customers will benefit from this acquisition. ModernBill is already integrated with many of the Parallels family of hosting products and now small hosting providers will be able to purchase both control panels and a billing solution from the same company.
Dedicated hosting providers can offer ModernBill along with Plesk to create a complete reseller package.
Parallels ISV partners which have adopted the Application Packaging Standard (APS) will benefit by having a ready to deliver solution for hosting companies to sell their products.
Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, and the deal between the two private firms was actually approved by both companies on January 11 of this year. Note that Parallels plans to maintain the current prices on the ModernBill website.