@NewfoldDigital has agreed to acquire @MarkMonitor, the leading global provider of domain management solutions, from @Clarivate, underscoring our commitment to delivering market-leading web presence solutions to our customers.
Learn more: https://t.co/WdSpCXMOq0
— Newfold Digital (@NewfoldDigital) September 12, 2022
A major domain industry acquisition was just announced in a press release this morning. NewFold Digital, the company that owns domain industry brands like Network Solutions, BuyDomains, NameJet, and many others, has agreed to acquire MarkMonitor from Clarivate Plc. Newfold will pay $302.5 million to Clarivate, the company that owns MarkMonitor.
MarkMonitor is one of the leading brand protection domain registrars. Many of the largest companies in the world use MarkMonitor for its domain name registrations and acquisitions. MarkMonitor’s Whois privacy service, DNStinations, Inc. is one of the most prolific domain registrant organizations due to its holding of high profile domain names.
The press release announcing the acquisition is below:
Newfold Digital Signs Agreement to Acquire MarkMonitor from Clarivate
Clarivate focusing on enabling corporations and law firms to innovate faster and unlock the true value of IP across patents, trademarks and copyrightMarkMonitor to strengthen Newfold Digital’s enterprise domain management capabilities
London, UK, and Jacksonville, FL, Sept 12, 2022 – Clarivate Plc (NYSE:CLVT), a global leader in providing trusted information and insights to accelerate the pace of innovation, today announced that Newfold Digital (“Newfold”), a leading web and commerce technology provider backed by Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. (together with its affiliates, “Clearlake”) and Siris Capital Group, LLC (together with its affiliates, “Siris”), has signed a definitive agreement to purchase MarkMonitor™, an industry-leading enterprise-level provider of domain management solutions.
Under the terms of the agreement, Clarivate will receive cash proceeds of approximately $302.5 million. The transaction is expected to close in late 2022 subject to the satisfaction of regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.
Gordon Samson, Chief Product Officer of Clarivate, said: “Newfold is a natural fit for MarkMonitor. After the deal closes, we believe the integration of these two companies will create a rich product suite and differentiated web presence offering that brings value to businesses of all sizes. We are confident that MarkMonitor will continue to thrive and deliver even greater services to its customers under Newfold. After this transaction is closed, Clarivate will be better placed to focus even more attention and investment on our core portfolio and everything critical to IP lifecycle management.”
The acquisition of MarkMonitor will underscore Newfold Digital’s continued commitment to providing differentiated web presence solutions to customers across the globe. MarkMonitor, an ICANN-accredited registrar and recognized industry leader since 1999, serves the domain management needs of approximately 2,000 clients globally, with a focus on Fortune 500 companies and other large corporate clients. This will make MarkMonitor a natural extension of Newfold’s portfolio of web technology brands, which includes Network Solutions, the world’s first registrar, Web.com, Bluehost, Register.com and Domain.com.
“As web presence needs continue to grow and evolve, domain management and protection is becoming more important. Companies need reliable partners and solutions that deliver results, and MarkMonitor is well-known for its expertise in serving the domain portfolio needs of some of the most sophisticated digital companies in the world, making it a natural fit for our family of web technology brands,” said Sharon Rowlands, CEO of Newfold Digital.
The MarkMonitor team, led by Head of Domain Management Stu Homan, will join Newfold.
“We’re proud that Newfold recognizes the value of MarkMonitor’s top-tier global domain management service,” Homan said. “The combined capabilities of MarkMonitor and Newfold will deliver and improve on the same great services that our clients have enjoyed and relied upon for years.”
“MarkMonitor will bring a rich history of industry experience and innovative solutions, and we are looking forward to welcoming the team to Newfold,” said James Pade, Partner, Clearlake, and Tyler Sipprelle, Managing Director at Siris, each a director of Newfold.
MarkMonitor is currently expected to generate approximately $80 million of revenue and $35 million of EBITDA for the full year 2022.Sidley Austin is acting as legal adviser and RBC Capital Markets and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC are acting as financial advisors to Newfold, with BNP PARIBAS, Deutsche Bank, Mizuho and UBS Investment Bank also providing advice. Evercore is acting as financial advisor and Blank Rome LLP is acting as legal advisor to Clarivate.
That means Namejet will get expired “markmonitor” domains, which there are a few, that used to drop normally without pre-sale after expired.
I would imagine so unless there’s something in the registration agreement with MM customers that prohibits this. I reached out to the contacts in the PR to ask. Good observation!