GoDaddy Shares Gain On Reports Regarding Starboard Investment

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.