Equity giants take a slice of GoDaddy

Go Daddy, the world’s largest registrar of Internet domain names, said on Friday that it was selling a stake to three major investment firms including private-equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR).

“The Go Daddy Group, Inc. … has signed a definitive agreement to receive a strategic investment and enter into a partnership with KKR, Silver Lake and Technology Crossover Ventures,” the company said in a statement.
Go Daddy CEO and founder, Bob Parsons said the company had always intended to make such a move, “when the right deal with the right partners could help us do the right thing for our customers and our employees.

“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,” he added.

The company, which is headquatered in Arizona, did not disclose details of the transaction, but the Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources, put the size of the deal at $2.25 billion including the assumption of Go Daddy’s debt. It said the new investors would own a majority of the company.

Founded in 1997, Go Daddy says that it manages more than 48 million Internet domain names and serves more than 9.3 million customers around the world. The company has locations in Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, Washington, D.C., Singapore, Toronto and The Netherlands.

Go Daddy’s new investors will help it “accelerate growth internationally,” Harold Chen, head of software and Internet for KKR, said in the statement. KKR is a leading private-equity firm with more than $60 billion under management.
Silverlake’s managing director, Greg Mondre, seemed equally upbeat about the investment:

“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 for its 9.3 million customers,” he said. – Afp with additional staff reporting.