Now that I’ve had some more time to process yesterday’s news about Neustar acquiring the company that operates the .CO Registry, I want to share some of my thoughts about the deal. I’ve come to know some of the .CO executive team over the last several years, and it’s been exciting to watch the company grow and prosper.
Here are some of my thoughts about the news:
I just received the news below and wanted to share it with you right away. In a press release that just hit the wires a few moments ago, publicly traded Neustar announced that it will be acquiring the privately held .CO Internet S.A.S., the company that operates the .CO domain name registry.
A couple of big questions were answered in this press release: “names under management for .co have grown to more than 1.6 million” and “.CO Internet exited 2013 with an annual revenue run-rate of $21 million.” According to the Form 8K that was filed, “Neustar will pay approximately $109 million, net of acquired cash, to complete the acquisition.”
I am sure we will learn more about this in the coming days, but congratulations to the team at the .CO Registry on being acquired. I reached out to a couple of executives at the .CO Registry seeking comment, and I’ll update this when I hear back.
Update: Juan Diego Calle, CEO of .CO Internet S.A.S., published a blog post about the acquisition.
Press Release:
STERLING, Va.– Neustar, Inc. (NYSE: NSR), a trusted, neutral provider of real-time information and analytics, today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire
According to a tweet from .CO Registry CEO Juan Diego Calle, the Registry has launched a new website to sell .CO domain names to the Colombian market. The website can be found on Dominios.com.co.
Just launched our new site for the Colombian market: http://t.co/6OAD8L9IY7 Yey!
— Juan Diego Calle (@juandiegocalle) March 14, 2014
I was curious about why the .CO Registry would use a .com.co domain name instead of a
Nicely done @dotco No SB ad in Feb and still beat 2013 numbs. Growing like a weed. Pat yourselves in the back.
— Juan Diego Calle (@juandiegocalle) March 8, 2014
I thought you might find it interesting to read this tweet from .CO Registry CEO Juan Diego Calle, who announced that the .CO Registry beat 2013 numbers despite not having a Super Bowl commercial this year. In 2012 and 2013, the .CO Registry partnered with GoDaddy on Super Bowl commercials that advertised .CO domain names.
As far as I am aware, the .CO Registry does not publish registration numbers, so I can’t share information about the actual growth with you, but perhaps Juan or someone else from the Registry will offer a comment to add color to the tweet. Based on what Juan stated, it would seem that the Registry is seeing strong renewal rates, although that is an assumption. Pretty good for them considering how much money they likely saved by not having an expensive Super Bowl commercial.
The .CO Registry seems to be primarily
.CO is moving to Austin for a weekend! Sign up to be a VIP & join us in our pop-up HQ @ #SXSW: http://t.co/UpGaRGS7M0 pic.twitter.com/jxwMlGZzS8
— .CO (@dotco) February 7, 2014
If you’re going to the South by Southwest festival in Austin next month, you might be interested in a special offer from the .CO Registry that is available to select .CO domain name registrants. The Registry is inviting .CO domain registrants to sign up to be a “.CO VIP at SXSW.”
In short, selected VIPs will be able to attend private events and parties organized by the .CO Registry. Here’s what the .CO Registry is offering to .CO registrants who sign up and are selected:
There are many people in the domain investment space who are either opposed to the new gTLDs or are certain that the new gTLDs will fail. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this at all. Should some new domain names happen to be successful, there might be a missed opportunity, but everyone is entitled to their opinion and should invest accordingly, especially given the illiquid nature of domain investing..
One thing I personally don’t understand is how some people who are adamantly opposed to the new gTLDs are bullish on repurposed ccTLDs, which tend to have more value due to their generic nature rather than their demographic. For instance, .TV is far more widely used with video / television in mind than the island of Tuvalu, and .ME is used for the “me” connotation rather than in relation to Montenegro.
I have several friends who have invested in (and done well with)