Investment firm Clearlake Capital Group has announced a series of financial deals that will have a major impact on the web hosting industry. Perhaps the most striking news released by the company is the completion of its purchase of Endurance International for €3 billion in cash. Clearlake's purchase of Endurance was originally announced in November of last year, but the closing had to wait until the New Year. With the acquisition closed, Endurance will now be delisted from the NASDAQ stock exchange. In announcing the deal, Clearlake also confirmed that it would form a new web hosting company called Newfold Digital in partnership with Siris Capital Group. Newfold Digital will be an SMB-focused web presence solutions provider, replacing both Endurance Web Presence and Web. The new organization will serve approximately 6,7 million customers worldwide.
A new player
“This combination creates an industry leader with enormous scale and a strong portfolio of renowned brands and product offerings that reinforces our commitment to helping SMEs get established online,” said Sharon Rowlands, CEO of Newfold Digital. "We are delighted to partner with the Endurance Web Presence team and would like to thank Clearlake and Siris for their continued support as we deliver the highest quality solutions to our clients in pursuit of profitable growth." In fact, Newfold Digital now encompasses a number of well-known web hosting brands, including Network Solutions, HostGator, Domain.com, and many more. Taken together, this means that Newfold Digital can offer a wide range of web services, such as shared web hosting plans, fully managed offerings, Linux-based hosting and much more. In addition to their new acquisition and the announcement of Newfold Digital, Clearlake and Siris have also confirmed that they have made a strategic equity investment in Constant Contact.