Recent Posts
- ICANN publishes its Woke Manifesto. Here’s my hot take
- Alibaba, Name.com among new RDRS opt-ins
- The Swiss can register .swiss domains from next week
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- Some registrars have already quit ICANN’s Whois experiment
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- Internet could get one-letter gTLDs (but there’s a catch)
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- ICANN 79: anonymous trolls and undercover lawyers
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- Epik gets acquired again! The plot thickens…
- Airline gTLD crashes and burns
- First chunks of new gTLD Applicant Guidebook drop
- Epik to reveal its owners soon
- Another crypto firm to apply for a new gTLD
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- ICANN picks its first ever Supreme Court
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- First bits of new gTLD Applicant Guidebook expected next week
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- ICANN threatens to regulate your speech [RANT]
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- ICANN predicts flattish 2025 for domain industry
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- Internet Naming Co acquires five more gTLDs
Registrar giant created as Web.com merged with Endurance
Clearlake Capital Group, which has taken Endurance International private and recently took a big stake in Web.com, has merged the two registrar stables to create a new company it’s calling Newfold Digital.
By my reckoning, Newfold has probably become the second-largest registrar group by domains under management, with around 16.5 million gTLD names across just its best-known half-dozen brands, leapfrogging Namecheap and Tucows in the registrar league table.
That number’s probably a big understatement. It doesn’t capture ccTLDs and does not take into account that the company now has hundreds of active ICANN accredited registrars, largely due to Web.com’s drop-catching business.
Its best-known registrar brands are Register.com, Network Solutions, Domain.com, BuyDomains, BigRock, PublicDomainRegistry and CrazyDomains. Its BlueHost and HostGator brands are both pretty big deals in web hosting.
Clearlake says Newfold has 6.7 million customers worldwide.
The privatization of Endurance, which sees it delisted from the Nasdaq stock exchange, was announced in November and cost Clearlake $3 billion. The value of its Web.com stake, which it acquired last month, was not disclosed.
Siris Capital, which bought Web.com in 2018, continues to have a stake.
Newfold will be led by two Web.com execs — CEO Sharon Rowlands and CFO Christina Clohecy.
The deal follows Web.com’s unsuccessful attempt to buy Webcentral last year.
There’s no word on (presumably inevitable) layoffs as the two companies come together.
Another domain firm going private as Endurance announces $3 billion deal
Endurance International, owner of registrar brands including Domain.com, BigRock and BuyDomains, plans to go private in a $3 billion private equity deal.
The buyer is Clearlake Capital group, in what appears to be its first foray into the domain name market.
It has offered to pay $9.50 for each Endurance share, saying it’s a 79% premium on the closing price the day before the media first got a whiff of a deal being in the works back in September and a 64% premium on Friday’s close.
The deal is still subject to shareholder approval, but Endurance says institutional investors accounting for 36% of its shares have already promised to vote in favor.
Endurance yesterday also announced its third-quarter financial results. It reported net income down from $7.8 million to $6.7 million, on revenue that was up 3% at $278.4 million.
The company does not break out what portion of its revenue or profit comes from domains. Hosting and web marketing services are also a big part of its business.
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