Private equity firm is buying Namecheap in deal that values firm at $1.5 billion
Founder will retain sizable stake in firm.
Namecheap is regarding to have a fresh majority owner.
The Wall Street Journal noted this morning that CVC Capital Partners has come to terms to buy a majority stake in the firm. It will value the registrar and hosting firm at $1.5 billion, counting debt.
Namecheap founder Richard Kirkendall will retain a sizable stake in the firm.
The firm generated revenues of approximately $400 million in last year.
Namecheap is the second-largest domain name registrar. As of the latest published data, it had 11.5 million .com domains registered in May. This is on top of many millions of domains registered in other extensions.
The firm is known for cheap domains, and also for its vocal founder. Kirkendall has frequently sparred with GoDaddy, which holds the title of the largest domain name registrar.
In addition to Namecheap, the firm operates Spaceship, a domain registrar and sales platform that is courting domain name investors.
