SAN ANTONIO – In a move that could add a new company to the city's tech block downtown, Liquid Web has purchased the Cloud Sites division of Rackspace.
Although details have not been disclosed, the sale was noted in the cloud hosting site's quarterly report.
Liquid Web is a Michigan company that boasts $90 million annually in revenue. CEO Jim Geiger hints that this may be the beginning of something much bigger for San Antonio.
The company's marketing video shows a company that does what its newly acquired Rackspace's Cloud Sites does, but for smaller customers. Liquid Web concentrates on small businesses that need hosting services.
"We focus on a much smaller customer, generally speaking, than Rackspace. As they exit it, we are entering it," he said.
About 50 Cloud Sites employees at the Windcrest headquarters will be retained by Liquid Web, but chances are they will be joined by many others as the company executes a larger plan to expand its operations in downtown San Antonio. Geiger said the city of San Antonio has been very welcoming in his talks regarding the new office.
"I think we told them that we would be at 100 employees in four years. I would bet that's very conservative. I could conceive being at 100 employees in the next 12 months," Geiger said.
Geiger said that he's encouraged by what he sees in the city and in the Rackspace workforce, and can envision moving his Michigan headquarters to the Alamo City.
"Even at a very small attrition rate of employees at Rackspace. So whether they have 4,500 or 5,000 employees in town, even a 1 percent attrition rate puts 400 or 500 people back into the workplace here in San Antonio, and it is Liquid Web's goal to be a preferred employer here in town," Geiger said.
The Rackspace Cloud Sites sale will be finalized at the end of September.