Liquid Web Names Former Cbeyond Head CEO, Receives Investment from Madison Dearborn Partners

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This article originally appeared at The WHIR

Liquid Web, a Michigan-based web hosting provider, announced on Wednesday that it has received an investment from Madison Dearborn Partners. Liquid Web has not disclosed the financial details of the investment but says the Chicago-based private equity firm has provided a “substantial investment” in the company.

Matthew Hill, Liquid Web founder and CEO will be succeeded as CEO by Jim Geiger as part of the transaction. Madison Dearborn previously worked with Geiger in his role as founder, chairman and CEO of Cbeyond.

Liquid Web was founded 18 years ago and has grown to serve more than 30,000 clients from data centers in Michigan, Arizona and Amsterdam. The company’s suite of products include its Storm Platform, which provides VPS, dedicated bare metal cloud servers, and dedicated server solutions as well.

The company’s headquarters will remain in Lansing, Michigan. It has provided further details about what the transaction will mean for customers on its blog.

Cale Sauter, Liquid Web public relations, says that the company has been exploring growth opportunities for the past nine months.

“This is a really positive change for our ability to add new products and grow much faster than the rate we even have been at this point,” Sauter tells the WHIR in a phone interview.

“This is actually something that our founder and CEO Matthew Hill – he started the company 18 years ago – he had noticed that there were other opportunities for the company to grow a little faster and be competitive with the way the market has changed since we started. He was on the lookout for any kind of investor that could really accelerate this for us. He talked to a number of people over the past nine months and this is the team that we found best suited to the needs of the company going forward.”

Last year, Liquid Web expanded its space in Ann Arbor and announced hiring efforts to grow its workforce in the area.

“I am pleased and humbled to join such an impressive company founded by an entrepreneur and supported by employees who share my passion for taking care of customers,” said Jim Geiger, incoming CEO said in a statement. “Liquid Web is an extraordinary company and, as an entrepreneur myself, I will work tirelessly to ensure that the company continues to thrive. I look forward to working again with Madison Dearborn, and together we will focus our efforts on scaling the Liquid Web business globally while remaining dedicated to its core values of unparalleled customer service and hosting solutions.”

The transaction is expected to close over the summer, subject to customary closing conditions.

Disclosure: Liquid Web provides hosting to the WHIR and Data Center Knowledge.

This first ran at: http://www.thewhir.com/web-hosting-news/liquid-web-names-former-cbeyond-head-ceo-receives-investment-from-madison-dearborn-partners