EV1 and The Planet Announce Merger

DALLAS, TX — Everyones Internet (EV1) and The Planet, two leading providers of dedicated hosting, announced today that they have merged.

Clients of both EV1 and The Planet will continue to enjoy the same industry-leading products and services they have come to expect. The combined entity will further develop both the EV1 and The Planet brands, supporting over 20,000 clients and 50,000 dedicated servers. This combination creates the largest dedicated hosting provider in the market, which has the scope, scale and financial strength to deliver superior service levels and innovative product offerings to existing and new clients.

The merger between EV1 and The Planet follows controlling investments recently made in each by GI Partners, a leading private equity firm with deep experience in technology infrastructure.

"The merger is exciting news for all stakeholders," said Robert Marsh, Headsurfer and founder of EV1. "It will be seamless from a client perspective and will result in a host of benefits for our clients."

"The opportunities created by this merger are extremely exciting, and we look forward to combining our resources for the benefit of our clients," commented Peter Pathos, founder of The Planet.

"We are very pleased to have this opportunity to invest in further building upon the strong foundations at EV1 and The Planet," said Howard Park, Managing Director of GI Partners. "Our aim is to provide the additional access to financial and other resources that will enable the combined company to continue growing profitably while further improving service levels, expanding product offerings, and enhancing the total client experience."

EV1, based in Houston, Texas, provides dedicated internet technology services to small and mid-sized companies, including sole proprietors and technically sophisticated individuals.

With offices in Menlo Park and London, GI Partners is a leading private equity firm with $2 billion of capital under management. The firm invests in companies with recurring revenue and asset-intensive business models in North America and Western Europe.

With over 10 years experience, The Planet delivers enterprise level hosting solutions that are readily available, affordable, and scalable. The Planet offers dedicated servers, co-location, Internet access, email and business continuance. Customers receive extreme value through offerings such as advanced security, proactive monitoring, database administration, data storage, load balancing, and virtual private networks, all managed through Orbit^SM, The Planet’s customer portal.