CLEARLAKE COMPLETES ACQUISITION OF ENDURANCE INTERNATIONAL GROUP AND STRATEGIC INVESTMENT TRANSACTIONS WITH WEB.COM AND AFFILIATES OF SIRIS; ANNOUNCES FORMATION OF NEWFOLD DIGITAL
- Endurance Web Presence combines with Web.com to create Newfold Digital, a global web presence market leader
- Constant Contact recapitalized for growth as leading independent provider of cloud-based digital marketing solutions for small businesses
BURLINGTON, MA, JACKSONVILLE, FL, SANTA MONICA, CA and NEW YORK, NY – February 10, 2021 – Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. (together with its affiliates, “Clearlake”) today announced the completion of its acquisition of Endurance International Group Holdings, Inc. (“Endurance”) in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $3.0 billion including outstanding indebtedness.
The transaction, which was originally announced on November 2, 2020, was approved by Endurance’s stockholders on January 14, 2021. In connection with the closing of the transaction, Endurance will be delisted from NASDAQ.
COMBINATION OF ENDURANCE WEB PRESENCE WITH WEB.COM TO FORM NEWFOLD DIGITAL
In partnership with Siris Capital Group, LLC (“Siris”), Clearlake also announced the formation of Newfold Digital through the combination of Endurance Web Presence and Web.com Group, Inc. (“Web”). Newfold Digital will be led by Web CEO and President Sharon Rowlands and Web CFO Christina Clohecy.
Endurance Web Presence is a leading provider of web hosting and domain name registration solutions primarily through its Bluehost, HostGator and Domain.com brands. Web is a leading provider of domain name registration and website building solutions primarily through its Network Solutions, Register.com, Web.com and CrazyDomains brands. The combined business, Newfold Digital, will be a leading SMB-focused web presence solutions provider serving approximately 6.7 million customers globally.
“This combination creates an industry leader with tremendous scale and a strong portfolio of marquee brands and product offerings that furthers our commitment to helping SMBs establish themselves online,” said Sharon Rowlands, CEO of Newfold Digital. “We are excited to join forces with the Endurance Web Presence team and want to thank Clearlake and Siris for their continued support as we deliver the highest quality solutions for our customers in pursuit of profitable growth.”
“We are excited to be partnering with Sharon to create a leading web presence platform that will benefit from significant economies of scale to drive growth in an attractive market,” said Behdad Eghbali, Founder and Managing Partner, and James Pade, Partner of Clearlake. “We look forward to utilizing our O.P.S.® framework to unlock the inherent value of the combined businesses and position Newfold Digital for success through organic and M&A initiatives.”
“Sharon and the entire Web team have done an incredible job establishing the company as a market-leading web technology business,” said Frank Baker, Co-Founder of Siris. “This transaction recognizes Web’s strong execution and we expect it will unlock new opportunities for profitable growth,” added Tyler Sipprelle, Managing Director of Siris.
RECAPITALIZATION OF CONSTANT CONTACT
Affiliates of Clearlake and Siris also completed a strategic equity investment in Constant Contact, previously owned by Endurance, which will now operate as an independent company. Constant Contact is a leading provider of cloud-based digital marketing software for small businesses, and the new investment will support Constant Contact’s accelerated growth in the dynamic digital marketing space.
ADVISORS
Rothschild & Co and Lazard acted as financial advisors to Clearlake.
Lazard and Evercore served as financial advisors to Siris on the sale of Web.com. Moelis & Company LLC served as financial advisor to Siris on the investment in Constant Contact.
Sidley Austin LLP is serving as corporate/M&A counsel and Kirkland & Ellis LLP as financing counsel for the transaction.
About Newfold Digital
Newfold Digital is a leading web technology company serving nearly seven million customers globally. Established in 2021 through the combination of leading web services providers Endurance Web Presence and Web.com Group, our portfolio of brands includes: Bluehost, CrazyDomains, HostGator, Network Solutions, Register.com, Web.com and many others. We help customers of all sizes build a digital presence that delivers results. With our extensive product offerings and personalized support, we take pride in collaborating with our customers to serve their online presence needs. Learn more at www.newfold-digital.com.
About Clearlake
Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. is a leading investment firm founded in 2006 operating integrated businesses across private equity, credit and other related strategies. With a sector-focused approach, the firm seeks to partner with world-class management teams by providing patient, long-term capital to dynamic businesses that can benefit from Clearlake’s operational improvement approach, O.P.S.® The firm’s core target sectors are technology, industrials and consumer. Clearlake currently has approximately $30 billion of assets under management and its senior investment principals have led or co-led over 200 investments. The firm has offices in Santa Monica and Dallas. More information is available at www.clearlake.com and on Twitter @ClearlakeCap.
About Siris
Siris is a leading private equity firm that invests primarily in mature technology and telecommunications companies with mission-critical products and services, facing industry changes or other significant transitions. Siris’ development of proprietary research to identify opportunities and its extensive collaboration with its Executive Partners are integral to its approach. Siris’ Executive Partners are experienced senior operating executives that actively participate in key aspects of the transaction lifecycle to help identify opportunities and drive strategic and operational value. Siris is based in New York and Silicon Valley and has raised nearly $6 billion in cumulative capital commitments. www.siris.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including with respect to the anticipated benefits of the transactions. Forward-looking statements can be generally identified by the use of words such as “will,” “may,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “intends,” “continue” or similar terminology. These statements reflect the parties’ current expectations and are not guarantees of future performance or results. These statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in, or implied by, the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include the companies’ ability to recognize the anticipated benefits of the transaction and the risk that revenue opportunities, cost savings, synergies and other anticipated benefits from the transaction may not be fully realized or may take longer to realize than expected. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date on which the statements were made. None of Siris, Clearlake, Newfold Digital, Web or Constant Contact undertakes any obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Copyright 2021 Newfold Digital, Inc. All Rights Reserved. All Trademarks are property of their respective owners.
Media Contacts
For Newfold Digital:
Ricca Silverio
Finn Partners
+1 415-348-2724
For Clearlake:
Jennifer Hurson
Lambert & Co.
+1 845-507-0571
For Siris:
Dana Gorman
Abernathy MacGregor
+1 212-371-5999
Blair Hennessy
Abernathy MacGregor
+1 212-371-5999
