OVHcloud, the French specialist hosting group, is reportedly in talks to acquire French cloud gaming company Shadow and search engine Qwant. The discussions are said to be “exclusive via joint talks with public sector lender Caisse des depots et consignations. » The companies have formed a partnership named Synfonium, which is aimed at “providing transparent access to the best European cloud-based collaboration services. » The move follows the Paris commercial court’s decision in 2021 to appoint Octave Klaba’s hubiC as the new owner of Shadow. Though Shadow, which was founded in 2015, has raised over EUR 100m in funding, it was unable to finance servers that could accommodate more customers. As for Qwant, the French search engine was created in 2013 and promised both privacy and independence from Californian tech giants. However, Qwant has struggled to find a sustainable business model and had to seek partnerships with the likes of Bing and, more recently, Huawei just to stay afloat. Synfonium reportedly intends to add further services to the platform to broaden its range.
The announcement was made by OVHcloud CEO Octave Klaba on Twitter, where he stated that the discussions between the parties were taking place. Twitter has become the platform of choice for announcements related to business empires, big or small, that are being built and reshaped.
French companies Shadow and Qwant are now in talks with OVHcloud to expand their offering through a joint venture with public sector lender Caisse des depots et consignations. The partnership has been named Synfonium and is intended to provide a straightforward path to access the best European cloud-based collaboration services. This partnership will allow OVHcloud to expand its offering in the cloud gaming space, while Shadow and Qwant will receive the funding and expertise of OVHcloud to continue their growth.
Shadow specialises in cloud gaming and cloud computing services. The company was founded in 2015 and raised more than EUR 100m in funding, however, without significant investment in server infrastructure, it struggled to accommodate more customers. The use of this service has increased during the pandemic as more people sought online gaming options while being stuck in their homes.
Qwant is a French search engine that promised to uphold privacy and independence from US-owned search engine giants. However, since its inception in 2013, the company has struggled to find a profitable business model. In recent years, it has had to seek partnerships with Bing and Huawei to remain afloat. With the Synfonium partnership, Qwant may receive the funding and resources it requires to reach profitability.
The announcement was made on Twitter by OVHcloud CEO Octave Klaba, signifying the increasing role of social media platforms in making important business announcements.
