America Online has made its first major acquisition in
nearly a year with the buy of online storage and backup services firm
Xdrive.
The move to acquire Xdrive, a provider of Internet information and
content management solutions and services, further solidifies AOL’s interest
in protecting and managing a variety of its customers’ data files and digital-media assets, according to the company.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“The digitization of consumer home media is skyrocketing, with consumers
and AOL members increasingly looking for easier ways to protect and manage a
wide variety of important data files and digital media assets,” Gio Hunt, senior
vice president of New Business Ventures, AOL Digital Services, said in a
statement.
“Xdrive will further enhance AOL’s consumer storage offerings to deliver
a more safe and secure digital lifestyle for our members,” he added.
Xdrive’s remote-data-management technology provides software and services
for presenting, storing and sharing information distributed via the
Internet, the company said. It also manages an online,
centralized storage platform that can access and protect users’ digital
assets regardless of the location used to access the Internet.
“This is a great marriage of Xdrive’s cutting-edge storage technology
with the massive infrastructure, network redundancy and exceptional safety
and security reputation of AOL,” Brett O’Brien, founder and CEO of Xdrive,
said.
The Santa Monica, Calif.-based Xdrive, founded in 1999, will operate as a
standalone, wholly owned subsidiary of AOL under the Digital Services
business unit and the direction of Hunt.
In addition to storage safety and security, Xdrive provides subscribers
with an automatic backup for music, pictures and videos.
“Our mission has always been to help manage, integrate, and protect
consumers’ digital assets and enable anytime, anywhere access to files, from
any internet connection,” O’Brien said.
The Xdrive transaction is AOL’s first major corporate acquisition since
it snapped up anti-spam Web-based e-mail company Mailblocks
and Advertising.com last summer.
Current and future subscribers of Xdrive will continue to be able to
use the full suite of services in accordance with the Xdrive terms of
service agreement, both companies said.
