Domain names and internet services provider Tucows Inc. (
Tucows) has signed a definitive agreement to acquire domain wholesaler eNom in a deal that is reported to be worth $83.5 million. Tucows, which has headquarters in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, was established in 1994. The company is a well-known provider of retail domain name registration services but also offers hosted email, SSL certificates, mobile phone services, and traditional hosting services. eNom is currently under the ownership of the Rightside Group, Ltd. (Rightside).
Rightside, which has headquarters in Kirkland, Washington, United States, is a domain registry with two brands – eNom, which provides domain wholesaler services and Name.com which provides registrar services. By acquiring eNom Tucows adds 14.5 million domains to its books and onboards a network of 28,000 resellers – this will make Tucows the world’s second largest domain provider managing 29 million domains and a network of 40,000 resellers.
“This industry has changed so much since Tucows and eNom each launched wholesale registrar services over fifteen years ago and .com, .net and .org essentially represented the namespace,” explained the CEO of Tucows, Elliot Noss. “It is a lot more challenging and complex now. At the same time, it is more mature and much more competitive. Scale is absolutely critical. This is a rare deal that gives Tucows and its investors exactly that while offering an immediate cash on cash return.”
Do you know of any other providers involved in acquisitions? Let us know the details. Add your comments below.
