World’s largest domain name registrar will own NamesCon after it completes HEG acquisition.
The rumors are true–GoDaddy (NYSE:GDDY) is acquiring Host Europe Group.
The US $1.79 billion transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of next year, and will include top European brands such as 123Reg and DomainFactory.
And NamesCon.
That’s right, GoDaddy will own the domain name industry’s biggest conference sometime next year. Host Europe Group owns WorldHostingDays, the webhosting conference that acquired NamesCon this year.
The deal won’t close before next month’s conference, and it’s unclear what impact the acquisition will have on the conference after that. GoDaddy says it will “continue to operate these brands independently and invest in their continued growth.” As industry conferences, it will be smart for GoDaddy to take a background role in the conference to keep it independent and not lose the support of competitors.
Wow, musical chairs! This will be a huge platform for Godaddy to spring board so far ahead of it’s competition in multiple sectors that it will remain untouchable into the foreseeable future.
You are correct!
Maybe they can finally make a real profit after all of these years.
GoDaddy vs Web.com vs Rightside vs HugeDomains.
Let the games begin.
Go Daddy seem pretty cool at conference, and helpful to deal with over all. So not too worried about this one.
If you’d asked me last year who would have been gunning to buy the conference, I would have said Frank Schilling / Uniregistry. One couldn’t walk down the corridor without passing stone-henge-sized monuments to .LINK and .CLICK. And whole swaths of the schedule were devoted to pitching their platform.
GoDaddy ownership will undoubtedly mean a somewhat different emphasis.
Different emphasis indeed!
Godaddy wasn’t gunning to buy the conference. It just happened to be included in the hosting acquisition.
@Brad,
Maybe not. I didn’t say that NamesCon was what motivated GoDaddy. It was part of the package. And I wasn’t privy to their deliberations.
This is great news ! With Godaddy’s reach and size plus the amount of TLD’s available it’ll be a win win for many !