GoDaddy (NYSE: GDDY), announced they will acquire the registry business of Neustar. The company shares were up 12.96% in regular trading.

GDDYGoDaddy Inc.

58.82

+6.75

+12.96%

Back when GoDaddy withdrew their appliaction for .home they noted:

It was noted that it was withdrawing its applications to focus on its core registrar business, thereby removing competition with competitive applicants it could work with as future registries and eliminating concerns that it will promote its own TLDs ahead of others’. The announcements were made at an event, Registry Days, meant to open a dialogue between the world’s largest registrar and new gTLd applicants.^[6] The applications were withdrawn in time to receive a 70% refund for each of the $185,000 application fees.

Full press release

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., April 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — GoDaddy Inc. (NYSE: GDDY), the company that empowers everyday entrepreneurs, today announced it is acquiring Neustar Inc’s Registry business. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. The deal is expected to close in Q2 2020.

The Neustar Registry business features a high-performance backend registry technology platform and enhanced domain security systems that enable people and brands to seamlessly connect and transact online with speed, security and reliability.

“GoDaddy is committed to helping everyday entrepreneurs bring their ideas online with the best possible domain name choices,” said GoDaddy Chief Operating Officer Andrew Low Ah Kee. “Neustar’s registry platform enables us to accelerate that commitment and provides enhanced scalability for future growth. For more than two decades, GoDaddy has used its consumer insight to drive innovation in the domain industry and we’ll continue to do so by creating more choice and value for consumers.”

The new service will be called GoDaddy Registry and will be led by Nicolai Bezsonoff, currently Senior Vice President and General Manager of Neustar’s Registry business. As part of the transaction, GoDaddy will strictly adhere to a governance model that maintains independence between the GoDaddy registry and registrar businesses. GoDaddy has worked closely with both registrars and registries for more than 20 years to help grow a healthy and competitive domains market and it will continue to do so for the benefit of consumers and the industry.  

Commenting on the acquisition, Mr. Bezsonoff said, “Our team is thrilled to join the GoDaddy family. We share a strong history of partnership and collaboration with GoDaddy that spans two decades. Additionally, we have the same values, a common culture of innovation, and a mutual vision for empowering individuals, businesses and brands to succeed online.”

The Neustar Registry business includes an extensive portfolio of top-level domains, including .biz, .co, .in, .nyc and .us, and supports more than 215 TLDs and approximately 12 million domains.  This includes its Managed Registry Services business that provides end-to-end registry management for over 130 brand TLDs and 70 generic TLDs. 

Debevoise & Plimpton LLP acted as legal advisor to GoDaddy.

About GoDaddy

GoDaddy is empowering everyday entrepreneurs around the world by providing all of the help and tools to succeed online. With 19 million customers worldwide, GoDaddy is the place people come to name their idea, build a professional website, attract customers and manage their work. Our mission is to give our customers the tools, insights and the people to transform their ideas and personal initiative into success. To learn more about the company visit www.GoDaddy.com.

Source: GoDaddy Inc.