GoDaddy share price soars on debut as valuation climbs to $5.5bn
Web hosting company GoDaddy saw its share price rise by 34 per cent on its first day on the New York Stock Exchange, valuing the company at well over $5.5bn (£3.71bn).
GoDaddy raised $460m from its IPO, having sold its complete offering of 23m class A shares at a price of $20 per share – higher than the expected range of $17 – $19 per share.
Under the ticker symbol “GDDY”, shares in the company reached a zenith of $26.80 per share after its first hour of trading on the New York Stock Exchange, before settling at a price around $26.13 per share.
One of the world’s largest internet domain registrars, GoDaddy has around 13m customers and 4,000 employees. The company generated $1.4bn in revenue in 2014 but succumbed to net losses of $143m.
The underwriters for the IPO included Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Securities, Citigroup and Barclays.
In its IPO filing to the securities and exchange commission, GoDaddy defines itself as the world’s largest domain marketplace:We are a leading technology provider to small businesses, web design professionals and individuals, delivering simple, easy to use cloud-based products and outcome-driven, personalized Customer Care. We operate the world’s largest domain marketplace, where our customers can find that unique piece of digital real estate that perfectly matches their idea. We provide website building, hosting and security tools to help customers easily construct and protect their online presence and tackle the rapidly changing technology landscape. As our customers grow, we provide applications that help them connect to their customers, manage and grow their businesses and get found online.