GoDaddy is currently in talks with a number of investment banks to find a backer for an initial public offering, according to reports made by Reuters and the Wall Street Journal today, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter.
The web services company, which was founded in 1997, tried to go public in 2006, but pulled the offering after it was told that it would have to take a 50 percent reduction on the value of assets used as collateral.
A lot has changed for GoDaddy since 2006. The Arizona-based web services company opened an engineering office in Kirkland last year as a part of its massive expansion under the leadership of new CEO and former Microsoft exec Blake Irving. He has been working to reinvent the company, including toning down its advertising efforts to focus more on GoDaddy’s capabilities and less on scantily clad women.
When he spoke at the GeekWire Summit last year, Irving said that the company was well-positioned for an IPO.
“It’s something that’s certainly a possibility for us,” Irving said. “Our outcome would be a very good outcome today if we decided to go public. We’re at double digit revenue growth and double digit customer growth.”
Irving said that he wanted to do more work to execute the company’s strategy before going public. Judging from today’s reports, it looks like they may be far enough along to start considering an offering. GoDaddy joins a growing class of tech companies expected to go public this year, including “Candy Crush” maker King Digital, and cloud storage provider Box, which was founded by a pair of Mercer Island High School graduates.
The company recently named Betsy Rafael to its Board of Directors. Rafael is the first female board member for the company, and has held a number of key finance and management roles in technology companies including Apple and Cisco.
GoDaddy declined to comment on this post.
