GoDaddy, an internet domain registrar, and web hosting powerhouse announced its largest-ever acquisition. The Arizona-based giant this week announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Host Europe Group (HEG) for US$1.79 billion including debt, as the internet giant seeks to expand reach in the global market.

The deal, which is still subject to regulatory condition and closing requirements, has been already approved by the GoDaddy board of directors and HEG's shareholders. It's now expected to close in the second quarter of 2017, according to Wall Street Journal.

London-based HEG, which offers similar services with GoDaddy, is one of Europe's largest independent web hosting firms. It operates brands such as 123Reg, Domain Factory, Heart Internet and Host Europe and claimed more than 1.7 million and seven million domain names under management. Additionally, the web hosting firm has a strong presence in the European. The London-based company is currently owned by European private equity firm Cinven Ltd, which acquired the web hosting firm in August 2013 for $560 million.

HEG's current offerings include the PlusServer brand which serves thousands of big more mature companies that require a dedicated field sales force and account management. HEG's other main offerings, the HEG PlusServer, is a high-quality hosting business with a strong technical profile and top-notch web management team. Because its business model differs from GoDaddy's current offerings, GoDaddy plans to explore other alternatives for HEG's PlusServer business, as mentioned earlier by Reuters, including a possible sale to other bidders or third party providers. That deal, according to Reuters, is expected to generate approximately $92 million in bookings and $41 million in adjusted EBITDA in 2016.

The deal is said to be a good fit for GoDaddy, it reflects the company's goal of becoming more of a technology provider. The internet powerhouse has been pushing to infiltrate the vast, broader small-to-medium sized business (SME) market for some time, and the London-based HEG already serves similar customers to GoDaddy's core customer base, namely, small business ventures and the web professionals.

Combining a world-class technology provider GoDaddy with HEG's strong presence in Europe will enable the rapid deployment of a broader range of offerings to customers.

Rumors of the HEG deal first surfaced in November, which Reuters reported that the GoDaddy and HEG have been in exclusive talks.

GoDaddy's other European acquisition include ManageWP, a Serbia-based startup allows businesses and web professionals to manage multiple WordPress-powered websites in a single dashboard.

Tags Internet, Technology