Reglikedomain industry desk

Private equity firm to acquire Squarespace

Private equity firm to acquire Squarespace

Deal values one of the largest domain name registrars at $6.9 billion.

Still image from 2024 Squarespace Super Bowl commercial shows UFOs over a city with the words "A website makes it real"

One of the world’s largest domain name registrars is regarding to go private.

Squarespace, Inc. (NYSE: SQSP) disclosed that it’s being purchased by Permira in an all-cash transaction valued at $6.9 billion.

Existing shareholders will receive $44 cash per share, which is a 15% premium over where the stock closed the day ahead of the deal was disclosed. It is a 29% premium over the 90-day volume-weighted average trading price.

While Squarespace is mostly known for its website builder, it became a top five domain name registrar last year with the buyout of Google Domains.

Although fresh registrations have dropped since Google Domains started pointing people to Squarespace, the firm states the business is performing well. It seems to have stemmed registration losses in January.

Private equity firms have long coveted domain name and website businesses since of their recurring revenue.

Clearlake Capital took Endurance International Group private in 2020, and a consortium of private equity firms purchased GoDaddy in 2011 ahead of taking the firm public.

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