The world’s largest web hosting and domain registrar site, GoDaddy, is planning to go public this year. Godaddy which is known for its edgy commercials, has over 45 million domains and 12 million customers world-wide.
Godaddy, based in Scottsdale, Arizona, is currently a private company and has been in business since 1997. The company was founded by Bob Parsons, who until recently was CEO. In 2012, GoDaddy named Blake Irving, then Yahoo Inc. chief product officer.
The company was sold for $2.25 billion in the summer of 2011 to a mixture of private money, including Silver Lake, a group now famous for its work to help Dell go private.
Godaddy had contemplated an IPO in 2006, but withdrew its IPO due to unfavorable market conditions.
2014 has been a strong year for IPOs so far. Several tech companies have gone public with much success. GoDaddy plans to use Morgan Stanley (MS) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to manage their initial public offering this year.
Go Daddy, is looking to go public by the fall of 2014. The size of the Godaddy IPO offering hasn’t been determined yet.
The company, which has raised its profile in recent years with an advertising campaign featuring celebrities like race-car driver Danica Patrick and Israeli model Bar Refaeli, is enjoying high levels of customer retention and strong subscriber growth, according to Moody’s Investors Service.
Godaddy pulled in approximately $1.4 billion in revenues in 2013, making it a hot prospect for Wall Street.
GoDaddy’s revenues are expected to grow by a “high-single-digit percentage rate” in 2014, according to a January report by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services. S&P said it expected cash profits to grow at a “slightly lower rate” because of higher costs as the company invests in its growth. The company has been offering new products and expanding overseas, while also opening new offices and a technology center in the U.S. CEO Blake Irving recently stated that sales could reach $5 billion within the next few years.
