CVC Capital Partners has announced an agreement to acquire a majority stake in Namecheap, one of the largest independent domain registrars and hosting providers. The deal values the company at around $1.5 billion, including debt. The transaction is at the announcement stage and will be subject to regulatory approvals before closing.
Richard Kirkendall, founder and CEO of Namecheap, will remain with the company, retaining a significant shareholding and continuing to oversee its operations. This ensures leadership continuity while CVC provides financial backing and strategic support.
Namecheap has been in operation for nearly 25 years. It started as a domain registrar and later expanded into web hosting, email, and security services. In 2024, the company generated approximately $398 million in revenue, representing an 18 percent increase compared to the previous year. The scale of growth underlines its position as a key competitor to GoDaddy and established European players such as SiteGround.
The acquisition is part of a broader wave of private equity activity in the hosting and domain market. In recent years, Permira acquired Squarespace in a $7.2 billion transaction, while Clearlake Capital and Siris Capital created Newfold Digital, bringing together brands including Bluehost and HostGator. CVC is already present in the sector through its ownership of WebPros, the software group behind cPanel, Plesk, and WHMCS, which collectively manage millions of hosting accounts and hundreds of millions of domains worldwide.
The impact on the industry is clear. With Namecheap under its control, CVC extends its reach across multiple layers of the market, from infrastructure software to retail domain and hosting services. This strengthens competition with GoDaddy, intensifies consolidation pressure on smaller providers, and further integrates management platforms with registrar and hosting operations. The deal reinforces the trend of vertical consolidation, where scale and recurring revenue are the decisive assets attracting investors.
source: https://www.wsj.com/business/deals/cvc-strikes-1-5-billion-deal-for-godaddy-rival-namecheap-a38fd014?mod=e2tw
Lukasz Gawior
With nearly 20 years in the hosting industry, an expert in building and scaling hosting products. Founder of multiple hosting companies, involved in M&A projects and in creating software tailored to the needs of hosting providers.