Its been busy but also very exciting as we have grown our business significantly across the world, supporting major brands while delivering content at record highs. From ad networks to gaming to cloud storage and more, 2013 was a year that we won't soon forget! Here are 10 highlights we're especially proud of.
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Highwinds 2013 Review: Our Best Year Ever!
1. 10
HIGHLIGHTS IN 2013
Looking Back on Our Best Year Yet
Highwinds achieved incredible results in 2013, culminating in the best year ever for the
11-year-old company.
The following pages include ten achievements that have helped to make Highwinds the
fastest CDN on the planet.
2. 1
Secured $205 million in debt financing, bringing our total
financing since inception to over $420 million.
Led by Cerberus Business Finance, LLC and Goldman Sachs BDC, Inc., an investment fund managed
by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P., with participation from the company’s existing equity
sponsor, General Catalyst Partners, and the company’s management team, Highwinds completes
recapitalization, positioning it for massive growth of its global CDN.
WINTER PARK, Fla. – Aug. 8, 2013 – Highwinds® today announced that it has closed a new $205 million debt
financing transaction with Cerberus Business Finance, LLC and Goldman Sachs BDC, Inc., an investment fund
managed by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, L.P., including follow-on investment from General Catalyst
Partners serving as private equity sponsor. This significant infusion of new capital is among the largest single
transactions ever closed by a content delivery network (CDN) provider. It has resulted in the recapitalization
of the business, and it positions Highwinds for aggressive growth through both organic and M&A investment
opportunities, including further expansion of its global content delivery platform.
“Highwinds has tremendous financial strength, with positive cash flow, a strong balance sheet and sustained
profitability. They also have proven technological innovation, an impressive customer roster, a brilliant,
thoroughly vested executive team, and demonstrated success in supporting the shift to online digital
entertainment, which is now a global cultural phenomenon,” said Kevin Cross, managing director, lending,
for Cerberus. “These factors make Highwinds a great investment for us, and we are pleased to be able to fund
their next stage of growth.”
Highwinds consistently ranks among the world’s three highest performing CDNs, as evidenced by the fast
response times and high throughput rates reported by third-party testing tools. Highwinds’ network comprises
dozens of data centers spanning five continents, a massive peering infrastructure, egress capacity in excess of
4 Tbps, and breakthrough technologies that fuel highly efficient operations, unmatched content control and
low delivery costs. Its content delivery and cloud services portfolio is trusted by leading gaming, advertising,
software, and media and entertainment companies for the delivery of digital assets to millions of global users
every day.
Read Full Press Release »
3. 2
Highwinds GDN™ (Game Delivery Network) supported the
launch of many of the largest game titles of the year.
4. 3
Delivered live streams of one of the most watched
eSports events in history and two top professional sports
championships (tennis and golf).
5. 4
Launched the Instant Gratification initiative to
support ad networks, partnering with
more than 15 top companies in the space.
7. 6
Had an incredible retention year in our
Network Operations Center (NOC). The best
support team in the industry is also one of the most
experienced. Our average tenure is currently 1.74 years!
9. 8
Launched the Highwinds Cloud Storage platform.
Highwinds Cloud Storage™ (HCS™) is a cloud of distributed storage nodes designed to support your online
storage needs with full replication, guaranteed high availability and asset durability. HCS is an enterprise
grade cloud storage solution, and can be used independently or in conjunction with your other Highwinds
infrastructure solutions such as custom colocation and transit, or the Highwinds global CDN. Content owners and distributors can store assets online and choose to deliver them directly from storage or via the CDN...
maximizing their options for both price and performance.
10. 9
Expanded our RollingThunder Network® by adding new
POP’s on 5 continents, augmenting our current POPs with
greater capacity and adding new peering partners.
Our network now boasts more than
2,100 peering sessions worldwide.