In 2006, when GoDaddy last planned to take itself public, the company backtracked citing adverse market conditions. That aborted attempt came nine years after the company was founded in Scottsdale, Arizona in 1997.
The filing today comes two-and-a-half years after being purchased by a group led by the private equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and Silver Lake. Following the purchase of the company for somewhere between $2 billion and $2.5 billion the company stated that present CEO “Mr. Parsons will continue to be the largest single shareholder, even after the agreement is finalized. This does not mean he has 51% — it means, as an individual, he would have as much ownership as any one entity.”
Ownership
Fox News reported today that “Executive chairman and founder Bob Parsons owns a 28.1% stake, as does the GoDaddy Group. KKR & Co. L.P. (NYSE:KKR) and Silver Lake each own 28%. To me that’s over 112% and badmath.com is already taken.
Rather than laying out exact ownership here ad nauseum, have a look at the filing.
As of December 31, 2013, the company has 57 million domains under its management and 12 million customers worldwide. GoDaddy also offers services to companies looking to build their online presence.
GoDaddy still losing money
That doesn’t mean the company makes money. The filing today gave a look inside the company’s finances and while revenue was reported at $1.1 billion for 2013, an increase of 24% over 2012, it still saw losses of $199.9 million for the year. That, however, is considerably better than the $279.1 million it lost in 2012.
The company is looking to reduce its debt through the offering of $100 million that is sure to change. Additionally, the company plans to make a $25 million payment to the private equity and venture capital owners in order to end an agreement where the owners collect fees from the company.
Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) are leading the offering while the capital market arm of KKR & Co. L.P. (NYSE:KKR) is getting a sweet deal by the looks of it by also being listed amongst the other underwriters along with Barclays PLC (ADR) (NYSE:BCS) (LON:BARC).
