Deal will give NameSilo more tools to target domain investors.
Domain name registrar NameSilo (PINKSHEETS: NTCEF, URL:CSE) has acquired NamePal, a small domain name registrar with an expired domain backorder platform.
The all-equity deal is for up to a 1.75% interest in NameSilo, with the equity payments not starting until 6 months after completion of the acquisition. At today’s market cap, that’s only a few hundred thousand dollars. However, NameSilo is picking up NamePal’s team, so there might be employment agreements as part of the deal.
In a release, NameSilo touts NamePal’s Fetch! Product as a big reason for the acquisition. Fetch is a multi-platform backorder aggregator. According to a product page, Fetch allows you to place backorders on a central dashboard and manage your purchased domains through a central location as well:
Tired of using dozens of registrar platforms for your backorder domains? Multiple logins and different control panels can waste your time and cause delays that cost you money and customers. NamePal’s new Fetch! is here to solve your problems, our proprietary Backorder Platform will consolidate and make managing your backorders faster and convenient. Capture domains across multiple popular catch services, manage your remote domains and participate in auctions across the web, all in one location.
The page notes that the product is coming soon.
I can see value in a service like Fetch, especially if users can manage their purchased domains from one dashboard rather than logging into each registrar account.
A 2017 presentation explains NamePal’s plans to target domain investors with tools and services, including a domain “afterlife” program that lets domainers share in income received from a domain after it is sold to another user.
Arthur Poghosian founded NamePal. He also was CEO of BackorderZone.com, which he sold to Web.com in 2016.
The most recent domain data report at ICANN from September shows that NamePal.com has 26,000 .com domains under management at its main registrar, plus 40,000 at affiliate registrars that were likely set up for dropcatching.
The acquisition signals that NameSilo continues to beef up its domainer-targeted offerings.
Nice work by NameSilo. They got a good deal there. I knew it was being shopped but last I heard they wanted all cash. I guess they settled for restricted stock of a Pink. Hopefully a win-win there.
Could be worse, could have gotten Digial Town stock lol
#savage
Mergers and acquisitions are never good for any industry. Are the Orlando-based NamePal employees integrated into NameSilo or they were let go?
“NameSilo is picking up NamePal’s team” as in the article
“Mergers and acquisitions are never good for any industry.” That’s a gargantuan generalization Acro, acquisitions occur in industries throughout their lifecycles and can be healthy and positive events. If a small player is not viable on their own (not referring to NamePal) would you rather they close their doors and leave their customers in the lurch, or become part of another going concern? The latter delivers some potential payback to shareholders and protects their customers. In the case of NamePal it sounds like the employees keep their jobs. The combined result of an acquisition could deliver a better customer experience than before. Acquisitions are not inherently bad.
I speak from my personal experiences in the corporate world, along with knowledge of numerous such mergers in the public.
That’s the rule of thumb when two companies “collide” with the intention to create/expand their owners or shareholders’ interests. It’s never – ok, almost never – good for the workers of one or both companies, where overlapping positions get eliminated.
Office Space (1999) is a classic, you should watch it.
Not exactly flattering stuff users over at NamePros have to say about NamePal.
Interesting that the Fetch page says it is “coming soon” but it sounds like people are already using the service, based on the complaints at NamePros.
Will namesilo take on the legal issues of backorderzone, and not returning people’s account funds?
Backorderzone is owned by Web.com
Wow! Namesilo is quietly becoming larger in terms of registered names under control and making some key business acquisitions!
Look out, GoDaddy! 😉