Brand protection firm Corporation Services Company (CSC) has acquired the digital branding arm of domain registrar Melbourne IT for AU$ 152.5 million ($157 million).
Almost equalling the previous value of Melbourne IT’s entire market capitalisation of AU$160 million ($165.2 million), the deal sees the Australian company reverting to providing domain name hosting and registration services.
Through the acquisition, the re-named CSC Digital Brand Services has picked up more than 100 of Melbourne IT’s new generic top-level domain (gTLD) clients and is now advising one third of all dot-brand applicants, believed to total about 700.
“Our combined new gTLD expertise makes CSC DBS the ideal partner for brand owners looking to take advantage of this significant development in the digital marketplace,” said CSC vice president Jim Stoltzfus.
Melbourne IT chief executive Theo Hnarakis added: “We have always been impressed with CSC’s strong customer-first reputation and believe customers will benefit greatly from the combination of two of the leading providers of digital brand services.”
He admitted that Melbourne IT’s DBS arm was not one the company was looking to sell but it could not refuse such a lucrative deal. “While this was not a business that we had specifically earmarked for sale, given the value creation provided by the transaction, this was an opportunity which could not be ignored.”
Last year, Thomson Reuters, a business information provider, acquired the corporate brand registrar MarkMonitor for an undisclosed sum.
This article was first published on 12 March 2013 in World IP Review
corporation services company, melbourne it, markmonitor, thomson reuters, theo hnarakis
