Register.com sold at a $65 million loss
Register.com has been acquired by web hosting company Web.com for $135 million, substantially less than the $200 million Vector Capital paid for it five years ago.
Web.com said the acquisition will help it access new small business customers for lead generation, to cross-sell its existing products.
The company’s customer base will increase by over 400% to more than one million customers, Web.com said. The combined firm will have annual revenue of $180 million.
Register.com was one of the first five ICANN-accredited registrars. It failed as a public company, and after years of financial wrangling was finally taken private by Vector in 2005.
Vector specializes in buying up troubled companies and turning them around, but it doesn’t appear to have increased the value of this particular asset over the last five years.
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If one assumes the DNS market remains static with
the 1998 Registrar-Registry Model.
If one assumes that the “License to Print Money” for
TLD Registries remains.
If one assumes that .WEB is viewed as a “Premium TLD”.
If the new DNS (SCUBA) Software continues to gain
market share, with WEB.COM used as the “Root
of .WEB”.
One would expect .WEB to “make it” given the
sheer size and financial power of the 2010 players.
Comparing that to 1998 and the .WEB efforts
is remarkably different.
Could ICANN stop .WEB if they wanted to ?
That’s quite enough bullshit for one day Jim.
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Register.com began as a great idea. As usual, a series of investors destroyed a great idea – and now web.com is nailing the final nail in it’s coffin. Once a loyal customer, I am scouring Romania. I can be ripped off for less.