Melbourne IT (ASX: MLB) today announced it was selling its Digital Brand Services (DBS) division to Corporation Services Company (CSC) for A$152.5 ($157.2 USD) million in cash, which was called by at least one analyst a “sensational price” for the unit.
“The company’s entire market capitalization prior to the sale was only $160 million”.
“Sale of the division, which registers and sells internet domain names and services to protect brand image online, was announced to the market after close of trading in Australia on Tuesday. Melbourne IT had requested a trading halt earlier in the day”.
The sale includes the 150 new gTLD’s in which Melbourne IT is contracted to provide back end servers for.
Corporation Service Company® (CSC®) is an ICANN-accredited domain name registrar since 1999, and a brand proection company for “more than half the 100 Best Global Brands (Interbrand®)””
:CSC offers an end-to-end solution for every brand protection need, from strategic domain registration and online monitoring to digital certificates and trademark screening. Founded in 1899, CSC has more than 1,600 employees located throughout North America and Europe. “
Visit http://www.cscglobal.com today to learn more.
It was just a little over two weeks ago that we wrote a post on how Melbourne IT was promising huge divided from the new gTLD program to its shareholders.
That post which covered the earnings call of the company the CEO was quoted as saying:
“Of the 150 gTLDs Melbourne IT applied for on behalf of customers, 75 % of the brands have said they will use the domains, and 110 of them have committed to five-year registry contracts”
“Melbourne IT expects to charge $20,000 to $30,000 per name, he said. But some could generate “hundreds of thousands of dollars of revenue per brand” as they become live and start generating second-level registrations”
Now CSC has bought that part of the business for just about what the entire business was trading for.
