Two of the largest webhosting companies around, www.ev1servers.com (formerly RackShack) and The Planet (www.theplanet.com) have announced a merger today. The merger is a result of both being bought out by investment company GI Partners.
As of right now, things are still in flux, and the only change to happen is both companies receiving an influx of funding. The management teams of both companies are remaining intact ... for now, at least.
I, for one, would like to see it stay this way. According to posts in a thread on the official forums at The Planet, http://forums.theplanet.com/viewtopic.php?t=19144, customer service declined and the company went downhill when GI Partners took over a UK bar chain. This may be why they are approaching this with a more hands-off attitude right now. I have to say something for them, though - it can't be that bad if they have the funds and resources to buy out two of the largest hosting companies.
I have to say, I'm a little frustrated at The Planet right now. After all of the problems encountered throughout the month of April initially configuring DaniWeb's two new dual core dual opteron servers, The Planet has taken it upon themselves to "forget" to cancel the old server and charge me for an extra box today. I'm sure management has a lot of other things on their mind but still ... don't forget the customers.