The world’s biggest, most popular, and reportedly debt-plagued domain registrar, GoDaddy, has been sold for a pretty penny.
This weekend, word surfaced that GoDaddy was sold to three private equity firms – KKR & Co., Silver Lake Partners and Technology Crossover Ventures.
Sources assert the value of the deal is approximately $2.25 billion – a large sum, but no quite so large when you factor in the company’s supposed debt of well over $1 billion.
“I’ve always said we would make a move like this when the right deal with the right partners could help us do the right thing for our customers and our employees,” said GoDaddy CEO and Founder Bob Parsons. “This is it! We are partnering with KKR, Silver Lake and TCV because of their technology expertise, their understanding of Web based businesses and because their values align with ours. We believe, together, we will take the company to the next level, especially when it comes to accelerating international growth.”
Founded in 1997, Go Daddy serves more than 9.3 million global customers and manages more than 48 million domain names.
Greg Mondre, Managing Director, of Silver Lake, adds: “Go Daddy is powerfully positioned for future growth as it continues to innovate and add to its truly unique platform of cloud-based software and services. At the same time, we plan to maintain and augment all of the attributes that have made Go Daddy a clear market leader today, including world class customer support and competitive pricing.”
