- Activist investor Starboard Value LP has a sizable stake in GoDaddy Inc GDDY and plans to push the domain registrar to boost its performance, the Wall Street Journal reports.
- Starboard owns a ~6.5% stake in the company worth ~$800 million, the report added, citing people familiar with the matter.
- While no longer major shareholders, Silver Lake and KKR still hold seats on GoDaddy’s board.
- By the time the private-equity firms took it public in 2015, GoDaddy was remaking its image to attract entrepreneurs and emphasize products beyond web addresses, such as e-commerce tools, the report added.
- GoDaddy has benefited from the rush by companies to expand their online presence and the growing ranks of small-business owners, but increased competition has also hindered its growth.
- Starboard typically pushes the companies it invests in to boost profit margins or improve performance in other ways and often seeks seats on its boards.
- In addition to selling domain names, GoDaddy hosts websites and sells other web services to businesses.
- Starboard has invested in other domain-registry companies, including Web.com Group Inc, which was taken private in 2018 for around $2 billion, and a similar company Web.com had combined with years earlier.
- Price Action: GDDY shares traded higher by 3.28% at $78.49 in the premarket session on the last check Monday.
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