Cloudera and Hortonworks merge in US$5.2B deal

Machine learning and analytics platform vendor Cloudera and Hortonworks have entered into a definitive agreement to merge in a deal worth US$5.2 billion.

Through the acquisition, the US-founded companies intend to create "the world’s leading next generation data platform provider".

The all-stock merger of equals will see Cloudera stockholders own approximately 60 per cent of the equity of the combined company and Hortonworks stockholders approximately 40 per cent. 

The combined forces of Cloudera and Hortonworks will generate approximately US$720 million, working with more than 2,500 customers.

The deal was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies.

Cloudera CEO Tom Reilly, who will become the joint entity’s CEO, said the two companies were highly complementary.

“By bringing together Hortonworks’ investments in end-to-end data management with Cloudera’s investments in data warehousing and machine learning, we will deliver the industry’s first enterprise data cloud from the edge to AI,” he said.

As a result of the merger, Hortonworks’ CEO Rob Bearden will join the board of directors. The company’s chief operating and product officers, Scott Davidson and Arun Murthy, will both remain in their respective roles following the merger.

“Together, we are well positioned to continue growing and competing in the streaming and IoT, data management, data warehousing, machine learning/AI and hybrid cloud markets," Bearden said. "Importantly, we will be able to offer a broader set of offerings that will enable our customers to capitalise on the value of their data."

The merger is also expected to ‘enhance’ partnerships with public cloud vendors and systems integrators, according to the announcement.

The deal is subject to stockholder approval, US antitrust clearance and other customary closing conditions and is expected to be completed in the first quarter of the 2019 calendar year.

Locally, Cloudera recently appointed Nick Hoskins as its country manager for Australia and New Zealand. The announcement was soon followed by the appointment of the first local distributor, Tech Data.