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Tucows picks up UNR registry and employees

by — Services 2 Comments

Tucows gets into the registry business with the acquisition of Frank Schilling’s technical registry and 10 employees.

Tucows logo

Tucows (NASDAQ: TCX) announced today that it is acquiring Frank Schilling’s UNR technical registry business and 10 of its employees.

Earlier this year, UNR auctioned its 23 top level domain names for more than $40 million. None of the top level domains have transferred to their new owners yet, but UNR Chief Growth Operator Shayan Rostam told Domain Name Wire this week that the assignments are under ICANN review.

Some buyers in that auction will likely continue to use the UNR backend, which Tucows is acquiring. This will give Tucows a toe into becoming a vertically integrated domain name company. Tucows owns reseller registrar platforms including Enom and OpenSRS, as well as retail domain outlet Hover.

Tucows did not disclose the deal’s financial terms and told Domain Name Wire that it is immaterial. At a minimum, I assume it will discuss the terms in its Q3 earnings release later this year.

Top 5 domain name stories in May

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Here’s a look back at the top stories on Domain Name Wire last month, ranked by views.

The words "Top 5" written on a purple background

1. Frank Schilling new TLD auction grosses more than $40 million – Schilling’s UNR sold 23 top level domains to 10 different buyers.

2. Lawsuit: Bird.com and Fish.com domain buyer failed to pay – Right of the Dot’s February domain name auction wasn’t nearly as successful as it first appeared. A bidder who appeared to win three domains for $4.85 million didn’t pay.

3. China wants to patent a decentralized blockchain DNS – CNNIC applied for a U.S. patent covering what it says is a better domain name system.

4. ICANN to terminate Pheenix domain registrar – After many consumer complaints and late bills, ICANN finally pulled the plug on a domain name registrar that was big in the drop catching game.

5. What’s next for .Web – An Independent Review Panel found against ICANN but not really for Afilias, setting up a few different scenarios for what happens to .web.

Podcasts:

#340 – Great domain investing insights

#339 – How cryptocurrency drives the domain aftermarket

#338 – Wacky domain acquisition stories

#337 – Buying and selling online businesses

#336 – Brandable domain investor success story

Top 5 domain name stories from last month

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GoDaddy’s acquisition, Frank Schilling’s auction and more.

The words "Top 5" written on a purple background

I apparently neglected to publish my monthly post about the top stories from the prior month. So better late than never, these were the top 5 stories on Domain Name Wire last month ranked by views.

1. GoDaddy to acquire MMX, .Club, .Design – More domain industry consolidation as GoDaddy announced it’s acquiring 30 top level domain names as part of its GoDaddy Registry business.

2. Bloomberg writes about Nick Lim and Epik – Bloomberg published an interesting story about Nick Lim, who sold his company BitMitigate to domain name register Epik in 2019.

3. Frank Schilling’s top level domain auction begins today – Auction bids totaled over $40 million.

4. Stands4 sues Dan.com over Calculator.com transaction – A company sued Dan.com after it bought a hot domain.

5. ICANN sends breach notice to Pheenix – After over a year of not hearing back from the registrar, ICANN finally sent a breach notice.

Miss a podcast? Catch up now:

#335 – Developing your domains into a business with Michael Cyger – listen

#334 – Tackling DNS Abuse with Graeme Bunton – listen

#333 – More domain investing competition with Braden Pollock – listen

#332 – The “new” NamesCon and Cloudfest with Christian Jaeger and Soeren von Varchmin – listen

Frank Schilling new TLD auction grosses more than $40 millon

by — Domain Sales 25 Comments

All 23 top level domains sold in auction last week.

The words "domain name auction" overlayed on photo of auctioneer gavel

Frank Schilling’s UNR business sold 23 top level domains in auctions last week, grossing more than $40 million.

The company says that 17 bidders deposited money to participate in the auctions, and more than 10 different bidders won the top level domains. Six of the winning bidders are new to the space and will be operating a new top level domain for the first time.

While identities of the winners have not been disclosed, the company says that established registries, investment firms, blockchain companies, and high net-worth individuals won auctions.

All 23 domains in the auction sold:

.audio, .blackfriday, .christmas, .click, .country, .diet, .flowers, .game, .guitars, .help, .hiphop, .hiv, .hosting, .juegos, .link, .llp, .lol, .mom, .photo, .pics, .property, .sexy, .tattoo

Auctions started at prices between $0 and $2 million and none of the domains had reserves.

Frank Schilling’s top level domain auction begins today

by — Domain Sales 22 Comments

Domain investor hopes to sell 23 top level domains.

Hands holding bid cards in auction

A three-day auction for Frank Schilling’s new top level domain names begins today.

Schilling’s UNR is auctioning 23 strings without reserves (but with varying starting bids). The domains being auctioned are:

.audio, .blackfriday, .christmas, .click, .country, .diet, .flowers, .game, .guitars, .help, .hiphop, .hiv, .hosting, .juegos, .link, .llp, .lol, .mom, .photo, .pics, .property, .sexy, .tattoo

UNR has lowered the starting bids on many of the domains since it first announced the auction. The price of .link had the biggest nominal price cut from $3 million to $2 million. The .link namespace lost over 15% of its domains under management in a single day this week.

The most obvious bidders for the assets include GoDaddy Registry and Donuts. GoDaddy Registry is acquiring 30 top level domains in deals announced earlier this month and Donuts acquired rival registry Afilias at the end of 2020. [Update: and XYZ, which has already bought some of Schilling’s domains.]

GoDaddy did not acquire Schilling’s top level domain business when it acquired his portfolio and domain name registrar last year, but that was before GoDaddy entered the registry business by acquiring Neustar’s registry business.

Listen to a podcast with Frank Schilling explaining why he is selling the domains.

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