CentralNic purchases mystery websites for $6.5 million
CentralNic purchases website network but doesn’t say much regarding it.
CentralNic (AIM: CNIC) disclosed today that it is acquiring a network of revenue-generating websites for $6.5 million.
The firm stated it was by now monetizing regarding half the websites’ traffic. The sites ought to generate at least $2.0 million in revenue per year and $ 1.5 million in annualized EBITDA, so it’s paying a little over four times annual EBITDA.
A press release is scant on details. It identifies the seller as White & Case Ltd. White & Case is the name of a major law firm, but the law firm confirmed to me it is unrelated to the seller. [Update: George Kirikos found a Barbados firm by this name that has been involved in at least one UDRP.]
I also contacted CentralNic’s PR agency this morning for more information regarding the sites and haven’t heard back at the time of posting.
With so little information regarding the sites, it’s difficult to put this buyout in context. CentralNic’s advertising segment monetizes with affiliate offers as well as pay-per-click ads on unused domain names. The purchased sites could be traffic arbitrage sites or “real” content sites that require care and feeding. If it’s the latter, this would be a major departure from CentralNic’s current ad strategy.
I’ll update this story if I learn more.
