GoDaddy Eyeing $1 Billion Sale

Popular domain registrar and hosting company GoDaddy has put itself up for sale according to The Wall Street Journal. Sources familiar with the matter believe the company, known for its provocative advertising campaigns, could attract upwards of $1 billion during the auction process.Go Daddy Group Inc. has hired Qatalyst Partners — an investment banking firm started by industry veteran Frank Quattrone in 2008 — to manage the auction, according to the WSJ’s report.
Neither party has gone on the record to detail the reasons behind the sale, but GoDaddy is likely venturing down this path in lieu of filing to become a publicly traded company — a process the company started and aborted once before.
In 2006, GoDaddy registered with the SEC to go public but later withdrew its filing. At the time, CEO and Founder Bob Parsons penned a personal blog post detailing the company’s growth and “significant operating cash flow,” while claiming that uncertain market conditions influenced the decision to backtrack on an IPO.
Sources estimate that GoDaddy brought in between $750 million and $800 million in revenue in 2009. Those numbers would certainly support estimates of a $1 billion sale price.
Who do you think will buy GoDaddy?