4 ms·

I wonder what is keeping them from doing an IPO. Selling a company as large and as profitable as GoDaddy at a public auction seems very strange.

• hristov 16y ago
  Well first of all it is unlikely to be a public auction. It will probably be a private one organized by a various investment banks. And I think it does make some sense, especially in these days when private equity is so well developed. The stock market likes growing companies, and I am not sure whether they would like GoDaddy which seems to be reaching the limit to its growth. Also, the stockmarket does not like situations where the owner is cashing out, and much prefers companies that sell stock mostly to re-invest in their business. If Godaddy did an IPO, the owner would not be able to cash out immediately and would have to wait a while and sell his stock slowly and hope he does not cause a collapse in the price. Private equity specializes in these situations (owners wanting to cash out, and companies that may have plateaued or are in decline), so it seems like a good choice.
• adharmad 16y ago
  Isn't going public just another sort of a public auction?
• dabent 16y ago
  They did try an IPO a while back and decided not to go through with it. Bob Parsons blamed the way accounting rules worked with his business and SOX if I recall correctly.
• emmett 16y ago
  The high cost of being a public company under our current laws, perhaps. http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/7075161?f=search http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/7075161?f=search
  • _delirium 16y ago
    The numbers there don't seem nearly high enough to determine a decision like this. I think it'd take a lot more than an expense equal to 1-2% or so of revenues to cause someone who was going to IPO to go the other way.
• annajohnson 16y ago
  The reason may be as simple as Bob Parsons not wanting to run the business anymore...