TIDMCNIC
RNS Number : 3671L
CentralNic Group PLC
12 January 2021
12 January 2021
CentralNic Group plc
("CentralNic" or the "Company")
Acquisition of online brand protection software company
SafeBrands
and
Strengthening of its Enterprise division
CentralNic Group PLC (AIM: CNIC), the global internet platform
that derives revenue from the worldwide sales of internet domain
names and related web services, is pleased to announce it has
acquired SafeBrands, a leading online brand protection software
provider and corporate internet services provider.
Acquisition of SafeBrands
On 9 January 2021, CentralNic acquired SafeBrands, a
France-based award-winning innovator and technology pioneer for a
total cash consideration of up to EUR 3.6m ($4.4m), representing
0.9x its FY2019 revenue. SafeBrands operated at approximately
breakeven in FY2019. Out of the total consideration, EUR 3m ($3.7m)
was paid upfront with the remaining EUR 0.6m ($0.7m) to be paid
subject to SafeBrands having met agreed FY20 financial
objectives.
SafeBrands is a leading French corporate registrar, with a
stable and growing base of clients, including some of the leading
French brands. It offers registration management for all Top-Level
Domains and a wide range of Value Added Services for domain
management and brand protection, including secure hosting, DNS
optimisation and SSL management. SafeBrands' talented R&D team
has a history of innovation and has developed cutting-edge
proprietary monitoring solutions used by global brands to find and
take action against fraud and counterfeits. Its multi-language SaaS
platform analyses millions of relevant results every day, backed up
by an extensive team of IP experts. SafeBrands is therefore ideally
positioned to take advantage of the brand protection, DNS and
Hosting markets which are all growing rapidly as COVID has
accelerated the digitization of business.
SafeBrands' online brand protection products and expertise have,
to date, been available to companies based in French-speaking
markets. CentralNic plans to offer these services, which help
businesses protect their revenue streams in digital channels,
through its global Brand Services offering, which currently serves
clients worldwide through teams based in the US, the UK, Canada,
Australia, Germany, New Zealand, and other countries.
SafeBrands' strong presence in France, one of the largest
internet services markets globally, complements CentralNic's brand
services business, which includes a leading corporate registrar in
Germany. This positions CentralNic as the European champion for
corporate domain portfolio management and online brand protection,
as well as one of the top three global leaders available to serve
customers in any country.
Ben Crawford, CentralNic Group CEO, commented: "The acquisition
of SafeBrands is an important next step for CentralNic in our
strategy to provide comprehensive end-to-end digital domain name
and online brand protection services to enterprise clients,
globally. We are delighted that SafeBrands, its talented team of
domain and IP protection experts, cutting-edge software and service
portfolio and established business relationships, are becoming part
of our Group. Intellectual Property is the lifeblood of any
company, creating value and differentiation, and the successful
future of any brand depends on protecting its IP with maximum
efficiency. SafeBrands' brand protection products will help
CentralNic further broaden our capabilities in this space, creating
an unparalleled suite of solutions for our current and future
customers."
Charles Tiné, CEO and founder of SafeBrands, added: "In the
fast-growing domain name market, this represents a fantastic
opportunity for SafeBrands to join the CentralNic family with the
clear ambition to create a world leader in corporate domain
management, online brand protection and DNS security. We share many
common values that are reflected in the many synergies between our
teams and technical platforms. CentralNic's resources and growth
strategy are aligned with our ambitions and point to a very
exciting future. After 23 years of organic and independent
development, SafeBrands' Director General Frederic Guillemaut and I
are convinced we have found the perfect fit for SafeBrands V2."
Strengthening and reorganisation of the Enterprise Division
CentralNic also announces that it is renaming its Corporate
division as the Enterprise division, in line with its prior
practice. Brand Services are currently the key constituent of the
Enterprise division and the Group has appointed Haydn Simpson as
Head of Brand Services. Haydn is a seasoned executive bringing over
20 years of domain management and brand protection leadership
experience to the division, having previously held senior
commercial and operational roles at NetNames, CSC and BrandSight
(currently GoDaddy Corporate Domains).
As part of this reorganisation, CentralNic has entered into an
arrangement with Novagraaf, one of the world's largest trademark
and patent filers. Novagraaf manages more than one million IP
assets on behalf of customers, and represents many of the world's
major trademark and patent owners. The arrangement includes a
reciprocal reseller agreement for domain names and brand protection
services, and CentralNic selling its minority stake in
ThomsenTrampedach, a Swiss-based Online Brand Protection service
provider, to Novagraaf. Being an equity consolidated minority,
there will be no impact on revenue and negligible impact on
EPS.
ENDS
For further information:
CentralNic Group Plc
Ben Crawford, Chief Executive Officer
Don Baladasan, Group Managing Director
Michael Riedl, Chief Financial
Officer +44 (0) 203 388 0600
Zeus Capital Limited (NOMAD and
Joint Broker)
Nick Cowles / Jamie Peel (Corporate
Finance)
John Goold / Rupert Woolfenden +44 (0) 161 831 1512
(Institutional Sales) +44 (0) 203 829 5000
Stifel (Joint Broker)
Fred Walsh / Alex Price +44 (0)20 7710 7600
Newgate Communications (for Media) +44 (0) 203 757 6880
Bob Huxford centralnic@newgatecomms.com
Tom Carnegie
Isabelle Smurfit
About CentralNic Group PLC
CentralNic (AIM: CNIC) is a global company listed on the London
stock exchange that drives the growth of the global digital economy
by developing and managing software platforms allowing businesses
to buy subscriptions to domain names and related services,
including protecting their brands online. In addition to providing
core infrastructure services for the internet, CentralNic is a
leader in protecting internet users through its sophisticated
software, dedicated anti-abuse teams, and partnerships with such
entities as the Global Cyber Alliance.
CentralNic's Brand Services companies offer the range of domain
portfolio management and brand protection services to companies
around the world, from small businesses to some of the largest
companies in the world.
For more information please visit www.centralnicgroup.com
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END
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