Private equity swallows another host—should we panic?

I have compiled three relevant precedents. Two ended poorly for users.

• 2019: I had a Hetzner auction server. When consolidation talk started, I watched prices on comparable plans elsewhere triple within eight months. CPanel licensing became "optional" at $15/month. I saw a mass exodus on the forums.
• 2021: Time4VPS absorbed by DataSphere. "No immediate changes" promised. Six months later: mandatory migration to proprietary panel, API deprecated without notice, two-day outage during cutover.
• 2023: Leaseweb purchased by HostUnion. Actually stable so far. Prices unchanged, support degraded slightly but functional.

Base rate: two of three bad. Time4VPS users, what are you seeing already? The announcement was six hours ago. I assume some of you have received "welcome" emails or discovered portal changes.

I host three small projects with them, prepaid through 2026. Contemplating migration before the other shoe drops.

Let us observe for a brief period. I apologize for my limited experience in these matters, but I have noted that Leaseweb remained stable as mentioned.

However, it is my humble opinion that perhaps preparing exportable backups would be prudent. I apologize if this suggestion is obvious.

RTFM

- read the acquisition FAQ
- check if API still works
- export DNS zonefiles NOW
- test your terraform plan against new portal

`curl -I https://api.cloudcone.com/v1/status`

If 200: you have time
If 301: check where
If 403: they already broke it

RTFM