The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

VeriSign sells off NetSol

Keeps control of .com and .net, natch

  • print
  • alert

Regcast training : Hyper-V 3.0, VM high availability and disaster recovery

VeriSign today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to sell off the registrar and hosting business of its Network Solutions subsidiary to Pivotal Private Equity for approximately $100 million.

But VeriSign will retain the registry business it obtained when it acquired Network Solutions three years ago. This business was recently renamed VeriSign Naming and Directory Services when it became part of VeriSign's Internet Services Group.

That means VeriSign remains custodian of the .com and .net domain name registries - so its plans to relaunch its controversial Site Finder service remain in place.

Under the terms of today's agreement, VeriSign will receive approximately $60 million in cash and $40 million in securities for selling a majority stake in its Network Solutions to Pivotal Private Equity. VeriSign will retain a 15 per cent equity stake in Network Solutions.

The transaction, which is subject to certain closing conditions, is expected to close in Q4 2003.

Said Stratton Sclavos, Chairman and CEO of VeriSign: "We believe that this transaction will strategically position VeriSign to focus exclusively on our core mission of providing critical infrastructure services for the Internet and telecommunication networks, while allowing Network Solutions to pursue its own independent strategy in the Web presence market." ®

Cloud storage: Lower cost and increase uptime

More from The Register

 breaking news
BBC-featured call centre slapped with hefty fine for unwanted calls
PPI pests: Swansea-based firm stung for £225k by ICO
Microsoft to open Windows Stores inside 600 Best Buy locations
Product showcases 'must be seen to be believed'
 breaking news
What did the Lehman Brothers implosion look like to a techie?
Insider tells all about the Gnab Gib at Lehmans
 breaking news
The only Waze is Google: Ad giant tipped to gobble map app 'for $1.3bn'
Pac-Man-satnav-ish upstart in bidding war with Apple, Facebook
 breaking news
1-in-10 e-tomes 'are self-published'... most are 'rubbish' says book ed
Publishing man scoffs at go-it-alone writers, ursines still fouling in forests
 breaking news
Facebook RSS reader said to uncloak June 20
Secret event scooped by Scottish developer?
 breaking news
O2 averts strike action over mass Capita outsourcing deal
Details of new agreement not yet released