Marchex wants to get out of the domain business, and GoDaddy is helping make it happen.
The Seattle-based company today announced a $34.8 million sale of its domains to GoDaddy and other domain buyers as it turns its attention to mobile advertising analytics.
GoDaddy, which went public on April 1, paid Marchex $28.1 million in cash for more than 200,000 domains. Marchex also received an extra $6.7 million from direct domain sales since January.
“Our business has evolved to where domains are not core to Marchex’s focus on mobile advertising analytics, so the time was right for us to sell our portfolio,” said Marchex CEO Peter Christothoulou.
Marchex said that its domain assets have generated more than $290 million in revenue over the past 15 years. That money was used in part to help develop its mobile advertising analytics platform, which now generates more than $100 million in revenue each year.
Marchex, which went public in 2004 and launched its call advertising business in 2009, has fallen on tough times on Wall Street. The stock is down nearly 60 percent over the past 12 months, giving it a market value of $167 million. The stock fell sharply last fall after a key deal with Allstate fell apart.
Marchex made leadership changes in February as Russell Horowitz stepped down after 12 years at the helm. Christothoulou, a Marchex co-founder, took over while Horowitz remained on the board.
The company beat analyst expectations with its Q4 earnings from 2014, posting revenue of $33.3 million —down from $39.7 million last year — and net income of $571,000, down from $597,000 for the same period in 2013.
Editor’s note: The headline was changed to reflect the accurate sale price to GoDaddy.
