One of the most important software companies NGINX, which is also behind the very popular open-source web server of the same name, is being acquired by its rival, F5 Networks, in a deal valued at about $670 million.

While NGINX is not a name that you have ever heard of, the reality is that you use NGINX every day when you post a photo, watch streaming video, purchase goods online, or log into your applications at work.

NGINX powers over half of the busiest websites in the world. Majority of sites on the Internet today, including The Hacker News, and hundreds of thousands apps, like Instagram, Pinterest, Netflix, and Airbnb are hosted on web servers running NGINX.

NGINX web server is the third most widely used servers in the world—behind only Microsoft and Apache, and ahead of Google. In short, the internet as we know it today would not exist without NGINX.

F5 Acquires NGINX to Bridge NetOps and DevOps

F5 Networks is the industry leader in cloud and security application infrastructure that helps businesses secure and manage their software and web applications.

F5 and NGINX became rivals when the latter started offering its paid premium service NGINX Plus to help developers build modern apps for mega-cloud services like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and other top cloud computing services.

This is why the acquisition makes sense.

F5 President and CEO François Locoh-Donou said that "F5's acquisition of NGINX strengthens our growth trajectory by accelerating our software and multi-cloud transformation."

"By bringing F5's world-class application security and rich application services portfolio for improving performance, availability, and management together with NGINX's leading software application delivery and API management solutions, unparalleled credibility and brand recognition in the DevOps community, and massive open source user base, we bridge the divide between NetOps and DevOps with consistent application services across an enterprise's multi-cloud environment."

The acquisition will also benefit NGINX, as F5 Networks will also leverage its global sales force, channel infrastructure, and partner ecosystem to scale NGINX selling opportunities to the enterprise.

"I believe F5 will be a great home for the technology, the open source project and community, and the family that have made NGINX successful," NGINX CEO Gus Robertson said in a press release announcing the acquisition.

"I'm excited to continue this journey by adding the power of NGINX's open source innovation to F5's ADC leadership and enterprise reach. F5 gains depth with solutions designed for DevOps, while NGINX gains breadth with access to tens of thousands of customers and partners."

In a press release published on Monday, F5 Networks announced its plans to acquire all shares of NGINX for a total enterprise value of approximately $670 million, "subject to certain adjustments."

F5 Networks makes it clear that the NGINX brand will remain, as will its headquarters in San Francisco, after the acquisition closes and that NGINX CEO Robertson and founders Igor Sysoev and Maxim Konovalov will continue to lead NGINX.

Once the acquisition closes, Robertson will join F5's senior leadership team and report directly to Locoh-Donou.

The boards of directors of both F5 Networks and NGINX has approved the acquisition deal, which is expected to close in the second calendar quarter of 2019.