Acquisition: CentralNic Group Plc (AIM)
TPP Wholesale is a carve out of certain trade and assets from ARQ Group Limited, a company listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. The business is the leading platform for resellers of domain names and hosting in Australasia, with around 14,000 reseller customers and 840,000 domains under management. The consideration for the acquisition was $24 million AUD.
Hexonet Group, with operations in Canada and Germany, sells domain name subscriptions directly and via more than a thousand resellers in over 110 countries, managing over 3.8 million domains on its proprietary software platforms. The acquisition increases CentralNic's domains under management by c.28%. CentralNic has acquired the shares on completion for €7 million, with a further deferred payment of up to €3 million.
Ideegeo, a privately owned domain name retailer based in New Zealand, is the operator of the retail website iwantmyname.com - a leading innovator in the application of User Centered Design to the retailing of domain names with 180,000 domains under management. CentralNic has acquired the business for $5.2 million NZD.
The three acquisitions are the next step in CentralNic's strategy of consolidating the global domain name industry.
Crowe's role and team
Crowe acted as the financial due diligence advisors on all three transactions, with corporate finance partner Mitesh Patelia leading the transaction services team alongside James Swan, assisted by George Lawford and Will Smith.
Client quote
“The team at Crowe was an integral part of the successful acquisitions of TPP Wholesale, Hexonet and Ideegeo. The three transactions all had their separate complexities, whilst occurring concurrently, and the team led by Mitesh and James delivered efficient and proactive support, advice and commitment during the transactions. These deals mark another important step in CentralNic’s global strategy. We continue to be impressed with Crowe’s ability to support our growth aspirations globally.”
Don Baladasan, Managing Director, CentralNic Group
