Akamai is acquiring Cotendo for $286M

App delivery company Akamai is acquiring app delivery network Contendo, the companies jointly announced today.

Akamai will purchase all of Cotendo’s outstanding equity for a net cash payment of $268 million.

Pending regulatory approval and other typical acquisition conditions, the deal is expected to close sometime over the next six months.

In a release today, the companies stated that they expect their combined technologies, which each have a lot to do with safely and securely delivering content and application packages in the cloud, to accelerate innovation in cloud and mobile services.

“As we look to accelerate growth across the dynamic landscapes of cloud and mobile optimization, we are excited to be joining forces with Cotendo,” said Akamai president and CEO Paul Sagan in a statement.

“Cotendo’s technology, partnerships and people are a strong complement to Akamai. Together, we believe there is tremendous opportunity for our combined technologies as enterprises embrace the move to the cloud and seek solutions for an increasingly mobile world.”

Contendo was founded just three years ago in Silicon Valley. The company also has a tech center in Israel. Half of its 100 employees are working in Israel currently.

Overall, Cotendo has taken $36 million in institutional funding, starting with a $7 million first round from Sequoia Capital in the very beginning of 2008 and concluding with a $17 million fourth round last June with funding from Sequoia, Banchmark and a few others.

The startup’s single-platform software includes acceleration services for web apps, static and dynamic web content, SSL, Advanced DNS, Adaptive Image Compression, performance monitoring and automatic failover. Cotendo also offers real-time reports and analytics and a distributed cloud application environment called Cloudlet for decision-making at the edge, close to the end users.

Akamai was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company provides services to help its client companies, such as Adobe, efficiently deliver web-based content, such as software download packages, to users.

“The Cotendo team is very proud of our accomplishments,” said Cotendo CEO and co-founder Ronni Zehavi.

“By combining our innovative technology and employees with Akamai, we expect our customers and partners will gain access to a comprehensive, global platform and wider portfolio of leading-edge services supported by some of the most experienced providers in the industry.”