UPDATED 07:00 EDT / SEPTEMBER 17 2014

Rackspace declares it’s NOT for sale following lowball offers

medium_4542651347Cloud hosting provider Rackspace Hosting Inc. has announced it’s no longer planning to sell itself or merge with another company after it failed to receive any offers ‘worthy’ enough.

Rackspace announced it was considering “inbound strategic proposals” last May when it hired the services of Morgan Stanley to help it decide what its next steps should be. But while there was apparent interest from a number of suitors, most recently CenturyLink Inc., it seems Rackspace’s chiefs weren’t impressed with any of them.

“None of these proposals were deemed to have as much value as the expected value of our standalone plan,” said Rackspace cofounder and chairman Graham Weston on Tuesday. “We concluded that the company is best positioned to drive value for shareholders, customers and Rackers through the continued execution of its strategic plan to capitalize on the growing market opportunity for managed cloud services.”

According to Weston, Rackspace did mull over the possibility of a share repurchase plan put forward by one unnamed suitor, but ultimately decided it was better to maintain its liquidity. Another factor in Rackspace’s decision to stay independent could have been its strong second quarter performance – the company racked up a record-breaking $441 million in revenues, a 17 percent year-on-year increase.

Now it’s decided to move forward on its own two feet, Rackspace has announced the appointment of a new CEO to forge its path. Current Rackspace President Taylor Rhodes is the new man in charge, succeeding Weston, who had led the company since February 2014.

“As a seven year leader of Rackspace, Taylor brings significant experience, dedication and passion to the role of CEO. He was instrumental in the development and execution of Rackspace’s managed cloud strategy that is now delivering strong results,” Weston said.

Rhodes is set to press ahead with the company’s new managed cloud strategy, which counters rival cloud offerings from the likes of Amazon Web Services and Google Inc. with a greater level of support.

photo credit: Truthout.org via photopin cc

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