GoDaddy Inc announced Monday they were acquiring Neustar Inc's Registry business in a deal for which financial details were not disclosed and is expected to close in Q2 2020, subject to applicable regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. The new service, which marks the first time GoDaddy has provided registry services, will be called GoDaddy Registry.
The acquisition will see GoDaddy take on Neustar’s Managed Registry Services business with more than 200 new gTLDs, including Neustar’s .neustar and over 130 .brand new gTLDs. The acquisition will also include TLDs such as .co, .in, .nyc and .us, taking the total number of domains under management to around 12 million.
One long term Neustar, and formerly AusRegistry, employee, George Pongas commented on his LinkedIn profile that “This is so exciting! I'm looking forward to the next chapter of my professional career.”
On the one hand, I am very sad to be leaving Neustar, Inc.,” said Pongas who is Neustar’s Vice President, Corporate Affairs & Business Development – Registry Solutions. “What an awesome company to work for! I'll miss the senior leadership team and all of my colleagues too. Thank you, Neustar!”
“Super excited to get started establishing the Registry business at GoDaddy now. So far, by every indication and interaction I have experienced, it looks like I will be fortunate to again work at another dynamic and supportive company with great colleagues.”
GoDaddy Registry will be led by Nicolai Bezsonoff, currently Senior Vice President and General Manager of Neustar's Registry business. As part of the transaction, GoDaddy will strictly adhere to a governance model that maintains independence between the GoDaddy registry and registrar businesses. GoDaddy has worked closely with both registrars and registries for more than 20 years to help grow a healthy and competitive domains market and it will continue to do so for the benefit of consumers and the industry.
“GoDaddy is committed to helping everyday entrepreneurs bring their ideas online with the best possible domain name choices,” said GoDaddy Chief Operating Officer Andrew Low Ah Kee. “Neustar's registry platform enables us to accelerate that commitment and provides enhanced scalability for future growth. For more than two decades, GoDaddy has used its consumer insight to drive innovation in the domain industry and we'll continue to do so by creating more choice and value for consumers.”
Commenting on the acquisition, Mr. Bezsonoff said, “Our team is thrilled to join the GoDaddy family. We share a strong history of partnership and collaboration with GoDaddy that spans two decades. Additionally, we have the same values, a common culture of innovation, and a mutual vision for empowering individuals, businesses and brands to succeed online.”
According to Neustar leadership, “in addition to providing its Registry business with new avenues for growth and scale, the sale to GoDaddy enables Neustar to better execute on its mission of enabling trusted connections between companies and people at the moments that matter most through products and services powered by its proprietary OneID platform.” Leveraging the identity intelligence of OneID, Neustar offers industry-leading solutions in Marketing, Risk, Communications, and Security. OneID drives solutions designed to help customers address their most critical business challenges, from optimizing marketing spend effectiveness, to mitigating fraud and risk, establishing trusted communications, and protecting against cyber security threats.