eName now listed as sole shareholder of GoldenName entity.
Consolidation in the Chinese domain name market has begun.
Based on a Chinese corporation document and discussions with industry sources, Domain Name Wire has confirmed that eName now owns domain marketplace 4.cn.
Sources tell Domain Name Wire that DN.com and other properties under the GoldenName umbrella are included in the deal, although I haven’t been able to confirm this from official documents.
A source says the deal can be considered more of a merger than an acquisition.
For its part, DN.com company representatives have denied an acquisition. After DN.com went down last week due to an ownership transfer, a company representative posted a carefully worded explanation on NamePros, stating:
Please understand that taking down www.DN.com temporarily was a prerequisite move if we wanted to modify the entity. We did this to coordinate with the lawful procedures.
For you to understand it better, we’d like to explain the exact procedures that we need to go through. We hope everyone can take an objective perspective over this. The official term is called “备案（bei an）”. “备案（bei an)” is to register the website and the company with the government’s network authority, in which procedure we report to the government about what the website’s business is and which company the website belongs to. It is because of our development plan, that we are changing the entity from “Hangzhou Midaizi Network Co., Ltd.”(also the mother company of 4.cn) to “Hangzhou YunBiao Intellectual Property Agency Co., Ltd.” Both companies belong to John Xu, 4.cn owner.
Although John Xu is still named on a Chinese corporation document for “Hangzhou Midaizi Internet Limited”, a Chinese company search shows that eName is the only shareholder. Records show that the ownership of the entity changed on March 3.
A DN.com company representative again denied the company was acquired in a comment on Domain Name Wire. I reached out to DN.com customer support this morning for a comment about the company search showing eName as the owner of Hangzhou Midai.
It’s possible that there are technicalities around the ownership, which is perhaps why DN.com was moved to a different entity than the one that owns 4.cn, but sources believe the transaction includes DN.com and other affiliated sites.
This is a developing story, and I should have more insight later today.
ename, great company LOL wonderful news.
I hope you’re being sarcastic 😛 Because this is as bad as Trump for president.
Oh course, it’s the only thing I am good at 🙂 ~
Acro, before you put your 1c on Trump, make sure you do something about the Greek mess.
Already did. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTSA_sWGM44
Congrats to all involved!
eName is one my favorites!!!!
even though its where most stolen domains end up?
eName doesn’t condone domain theft.
Their platform has been crucial to the rapid growth of Chinese oriented and liquid domains.
Shady and untrustworthy people are just that. If not eName, it’ll be somewhere else.
“If not eName, it’ll be somewhere else.”……Well right now it is at eName…. The evidence is overwhelming. Being uncooperative to these thefts is a form of condoning…
I get where you’re coming from. It’s a double edged sword. A a platform that caters to liquidity, with core a competency of fast transfers in and out is a haven for domain hijacking.
I do not believe domain theft resolution is as cut and dry as many may believe.
While theft may be apparent, managing and going through the proper channels of different jurisdictions is not a quick or easy process.
I understand where you’re coming from. It’s a double edged sword. A platform that caters to liquidity with a core competency of fast transfers both in and out is like a haven for domain hijacking.
I don’t believe domain resolution is as cut and dry as some may believe.
While theft may be easily apparent, going through and managing the processes of multiple jurisdictions is not a quick or easy task.
4.CN and DN.COM…two more sites to add to the list of sites I will never use or visit again
I have friend who was recently in China and reported number 4 is such bad luck (meaning death) there is no 4th floor in Chinese buildings! That makes it seem odd 4.CN is such a valuable name in China.
P.S. to Acro re your Donald Trump remark. Donald Trump is the only candidate who can truly make America great again, as realized by so many voters in so many states!
@David
As we know the minority class is growing, when you insult every race on the planet, how do you get that minority vote.
Having him as the front runner just gave it to Hilary, these primaries are not indicative of the overall class of voters where he will fail miserably.
The minority class is quickly becoming the working class…. If you listen to Trump, not the media, you will find he did not insult every race on the planet, or even one…. On subject to this article, we (USA) currently have a huge trade deficit with China, Trump is the only one looking to balance that.
@Ryan There are other news source, you know?
Try to expand your horizons beyond Fox and CNN..
@David – Read what Ryan said, my sentiments exactly.
Does this mean they actually have the ability to pay for the name, instead of taking it, and leaving an I O U?
Andrew is first class. There is no news stories I could find on Baidu News regarding this change of ownership. You are well connected!
Thanks Kassey
Here’s a detailed analysis from http://www.chinaz.com/news/2016/0317/513248.shtml.
The title says it’s a merger (not eName buying 4.cn). It says eName is strong in domain registration and 4.cn in brokerage and financing. The combined entity will become a very strong force in domain registration, buy/sell, auction, brokerage, and financing. Only an entity of the size of Godaddy + Sedo + escrow can compete with it.
Thanks Kassey. That’s my understanding — that on paper it looks like an acquisition because eName is the shareholder, but it’s more of a merger.
I personally don’t quite believe a “family company” like 4.cn can match sedo – You are giving the Chinese company way too many credits. Meanwhile, the “financing” part could potentially be a very dangerous thing if you take a closer look at it. What’s more, Ename has never been a place where SMEs or brand owners register domain names – it is 99% (if not all) about investors and probably domain thieves.
If you know Chinese market that well you should have noticed what the major “retail registrars” like Hichina and Xinnet are developing their aftermarket platform. 4.cn may be very well known aftermarket platform for many western investors but it has no comparison to Hichina and Xinnet in China, let alone calling it “China’s Godaddy”.
IMHO, some smaller companies are just trying to catch some attentions in the stock market now by exaggerating a merge case.
I don’t know China that well and it’s not my opinion. I only translated what’s written in the news article.
I would have broke this story, but I was busy modifying the entity
Acro and Ryan, that makes little difference because the minority voters are solid democrats anyway and will vote overwhelmingly for Hillary regardless of what he says. Donald Trump is getting more and more non-minority voters to vote in-effect cancelling it out and getting the “Reagan Democrats” to vote for him.
Hey everyone, no more Trump comments please. I’ll delete any further comments just about Trump. This article is about a big news story and I’d like to keep comments on track.
Donald Trump will order all domains transferred to ename ordered back to the US registers.
Curious:
If “Golden Name” is a name used to refer to 4.CN or things associated with it, why has the GoldenName.com domain either not been resolving or I may have seen a for sale page a while ago, for a very long time, it’s listed there for sale with one offer so far, “[email protected]” is still listed in whois for both 4.CN and GoldenName.com, and it is sometimes really used as the support email? Have they not abandoned this as a name for themselves if they are trying to sell it? But then why use it as the main whois email and official support email if they are trying to sell it?
I guess you raised a very good question there. How can a “top-tier” domain name company like 4.cn has such a messy domain name management for itself?
Does anybody really understand the company’s background or its capability for serving the increasing group of clients?
@Hobi – It’s been widely documented about how bad Ename is at returning stolen domains transferred to them. If I started sharing every link here Andrew would have every right to remove them. Just ask Joe Styler at GoDaddy, or attorney John Berryhill about the hoops they had to jump through to get stolen domains back for their clients. Verisign had to snatch ShadesDaddy .com right off Ename via executive order at some point.
I think there is definitely work that needs to be done on their end. Notably, in the speed department regarding the recovery of a stolen asset. Even a single theft is a pretty big issue.
What I was getting at initially, was that I do like their platform and these issues aside, their company overall. I speak with them on a regular basis and its always been pleasant.
Ill add that based on what I experienced it appeared as though they may even try to steal from their own customers by forcing them and sellers to jump through unrealistic hoops.
Handing a name over to ename is like asking the leader of North Korea to hold something for you. Heck I could have just used communist Chinese leadership as an example but we are getting soft on that dictatorship so…
last time I tried to move a 4L.com out of my account, I got a follow up email the next day from Godaddy’s transfer verification dept, asking for confirmation, they are manually following up when you try to express right away, but not right away, a good step by godaddy.
As for ENAME, I honestly have to charge chinese buyers 10% more because of the BS I have to go thru to verify all the BS with them. They want receipts, screenshots, Govt issued ID to accept a transfer into their accounts.
Got to be a better way.
You title should be reversed. I’m told 4.cn bought ename.