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NEW YORK, NY – Private-equity firm Permira has entered into a deal with Squarespace to acquire the website-building platform and domain host/registrar in an all-cash deal valued at $6.9 billion, according to an announcement made this week by both companies.
The deal involves Permira paying approximately a 30 percent premium to Squarespace’s unaffected share price, which comes to $44 a share in cash; as a part of the transaction, the publicly-traded web company – which opened at $48 a share in 2021 and has never traded above that price since – will now be taken private, reports say.
Squarespace founder and CEO Anthony Casalena said in a release that “We are thrilled to be partnering with Permira on this new leg of our journey.”
Echoing Casalena’s sentiments, Permira partner David Erlong said in a release of his own that “We are excited to partner with Anthony and his team to support the company in unlocking its full potential.”
The three investors controlling 90 percent of Squarespace’s voting shares – Casalena, Accel and General Atlantic – all approved the transaction, and all three will remain as investors once the deal is completed.
The value of the New York-based Squarespace was significantly bolstered in July of this year when Google abruptly announced that it would be ending its Google Domains service after nearly 10 years and would be selling the business and all of its assets to the New York City-based company. The deal covered all of Google Domains’ assets, which included approximately 10 million domains owned by millions of customers.
Squarespace going private follows a recent trend that has seen smaller tech companies going the same route after experiencing financial difficulties in public markets or anticipating their value being increased by merging with larger business entities. An example would be Qualtrics, an experience management company, which went public in 2021 only to go private again in 2023 in a $12.5 billion sale to Silver Lake.
About The Author: John Colascione is Chief Executive Officer of Internet Marketing Services Inc. He specializes in Website Monetization, is a Google AdWords Certified Professional, authored a ‘how to’ book called ”Mastering Your Website‘, and is a key player in several Internet related businesses through his search engine strategy brand Searchen Networks®
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