Network Solutions Acquired by Web.com

Frank Gruber August 3, 2011 Tweet

Herndon, Virginia-based Network Solutions was acquired by Web.com today for $405 million in cash and were issued 18 million shares of Web.com common stock, in addition to refinancing existing net debt of Network Solutions and paying certain fees. The estimated total value of the deal is just over $56o million.  Network Solutions has been around for quite sometime, but one of its claims to fame is the domain provider used by Mark Zuckerberg for securing TheFacebook.com.

Web.com CEO and Chairman, David Brown had this to say about the acquisition:

“We believe this combination will provide significant long-term shareholder value as we grow our business, capitalize on synergies, improve our margins and generate substantial cash flow to invest greater resources in growth and branding initiatives.”

Yes, he used the word synergies. What I think he is trying to say is that Web.com will be able to leverage Network Solutions large customer base to sell it’s existing SEO, online marketing, Facebook and mobile offerings. Makes sense to me.

We have gotten to know Network Solutions quite well over the years and Shashi Bellamkonda has been a fixture in the Washington, D.C. tech and social media community (and has even contributed to TechCocktail.com in the past). We hope the acquisition will help to bolster Shashi’s efforts as they look to offer small businesses some great options when it comes to hosting and services.