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Is there any VPS / hosting business for sale?
Hello,
I am looking to purchase (if available) a vps / shared hosting business that is registered as a company.
My requirements are the following:
- based in EU. Other locations might be considered.
- existing (paying) customers
- accepts payments by paypal and Stripe
- reasonable price
If the discussion is not in the correct place - please let me know.
Thank you!
Comments
What is "reasonable price" anyway?
Typically, if it is a legit business, its sale price is determined by annual profit x 5(years) to 10(years) + premium (if any). And your lawyer should insert a clause that the seller can't enter the same business for about 5 years or so.
If it's a summerhost, the kids love to sell at any price before fall.
Just out of interest, why?
Hello - I am looking for a company that is created/registered/operational that is for sale. The clause that you mention is not mandatory for us.
To prevent the seller to become a direct competitor for a foreseeable period. This sort of clause is used for pretty much all business sales, not just for web hosting. However, it's a local business, they also insert distance.
If I remember correctly, the original owner of HostGator had this clause inserted as well. Not sure whether it was 5 or 10 though.
For smaller deals in the hosting industry, it is typically a multiple of revenue. It is highly variable though.
@giddeon You may want to talk to a broker. Most of the brokers have a list of available deals that they send on a weekly basis.
How much you looking to spend?
Non-compete clauses are scummy, keep it relevant to the current customers.
I just hope OP's budget ain't 7.
I love scummy clauses.
How about 7 BTC?
@vpsrus
Already sent his clients elsewhere ....
@serverhand
This is not really a non-compete in that sense. A non-compete is usually an employer saying to an employee "if you quit, you can't go to our competitor for X period of time".
Turns out society doesn't like those, which is why in some places they're illegal (e.g., California, home of Silicon Valley) and in most other places, the courts side with employees if it's unreasonable. The broader the geography and the broader the exclusion, the more likely it'll be tossed.
In this case, however, it's an owner selling his business. Totally different scenario. The owner selling can negotiate and has a lot more negotiating power than an employee trying to get a job. In those cases, two parties can agree on whatever they want.
While I find employment non-competes to be scummy in general, what you agree to when you're selling your toys is completely up to you, and it's scum-free.
@MSPNick
Regarding how much I want to spend, I am willing to pay the real company value. Up to 50k Euro. Maybe a little bit more.
And a the non competes will apply only to existing customers. The previous owner can perform the same business in the future.
Its good to know since it allows people to gauge the size of business you're looking to aquire.
50k means a small 1 man operation, with less than 10k/yr of profit. Of course other factors may affect this such as any owned equipment, infrastructure and IP space.
At this size, it's not an attractive purchase because the company would generally be small and so may quite easily be knocked out...
The loss making operations may be a more attractive bet then if you are able to consolidate. Loss making companies may be begging to exit to stop the hemorrhaging of cash.
Actually I'm interested in such companies also. Though I only want to buy their assets and not the whole company. Do you want to buy the whole company or just the assets?
I am interested in purchasing the company as a whole. And I know we are talking about small operations but I hope to find something that can grow.