Ever-expanding website services giant Newfold Digital announced this week that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire domain management player MarkMonitor for $302.5 million. The deal is scheduled to close in Q4, subject to regulatory approval and closing conditions.
So what does this do for Newfold? In short, it deepens the company’s bench as a holistic provider of website services. Following a string of moves that did similar, MarkMonitor brings it greater capabilities as a domain registrar, thus covering more of the website IP lifecycle.
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Power Play
Put another way, this expands Newfold’s capabilities further upstream. In even plainer terms, businesses need domains before they can start building websites. An ICANN-accredited registrar in its family of brands brings more of that capability in-house and buttresses Newfold’s family of brands.
To that end, MarkMonitor joins several other players in Newfold’s portfolio, including Network Solutions, Web.com, Bluehost, Register.com and Domain.com. Altogether, MarkMonitory represents the latest in Newfold’s power play to ratchet up as a web-services market share leader.
More capability at the registrar level also affords Newfold the economic and practical advantages of vertical integration. That’s been its corporate development playbook from the starting gate. Besides gaining customers and capability it’s all about integrations and economies of scale.
As for MarkMonitor’s strengths as a registrar, it’s on pace to generate $80 million in revenue and $35 million in EBITDA for full-year 2022. In terms of its go-to-market focus and customer base, it works with more than 2,000 clients globally including several Fortune 500 companies.
All Sizes
That last part is notable, given that Newfold’s target market is broad, but with an emphasis on SMBs. So in addition to all the advantages noted above (vertical integration, etc.). MarkMonitor extends Newfold’s addressable market, given its focus and competency in large enterprises.
“Our priority as a leading web and commerce technology company is to deliver the best results and growth for our customers,” Newfold Digital CEO Sharon Rowlands told Localogy Insider. “Our agreement to acquire MarkMonitor, an industry leader in domain management and protection, underscores our continued commitment to providing differentiated web presence solutions to business owners of all sizes across the globe.”
