April 18, 2024

DealBook: Go Daddy Nears Sale to K.K.R. and Silver Lake

GoDaddy.com commercial shown during the 2011 Super Bowl. One of the GoDaddy.com commercials that made its debut during the 2011 Super Bowl.

The Go Daddy Group, the Web domain registration company known for its risqué ads, is near a deal to sell itself to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Silver Lake and another investment firm for $2 billion to $2.5 billion, people briefed on the matter told DealBook on Friday.

An announcement could be made as soon as next week, though final details have yet to be worked out and the talks could still fall apart, said these people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks were private.

In addition to K.K.R. and Silver Lake, the investment group also includes Technology Crossover Ventures as a minority investor.

Go Daddy is one of the biggest domain name registrars, a subscription-based business with relatively steady cash flow. It also provides Web hosting services and other products.

Founded in 1997 in Scottsdale, Ariz., the company gained notice in part for titillating advertising, including Super Bowl commercials intentionally made to be rejected by television networks. Among Go Daddy’s chief spokeswomen — “Go Daddy Girls,” in the company’s parlance — is the race car driver Danica Patrick.

The company sought to go public in 2006, but scrapped those plans. One reason it gave: Go Daddy’s outspoken chief executive, Robert Parsons, found the mandatory quiet period “suffocating.” (He is expected to continue leading the company after the buyout.)

Go Daddy hired Qatalyst Partners, Frank Quattrone’s investment bank, to run the sales process last fall.

Representatives for GoDaddy and the buyout firms declined to comment or were not immediately available for comment.

News of the K.K.R.-led offer was reported earlier by The New York Post.

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=cb585bca2129bfdf039a4e242d91bff2