Domain registrar Go Daddy is close to agreeing to a buy-out valuing the company at USD 2-2.5 billion, people familiar with the talks told the Financial Times. Private equity group Kohlberg Kravis Roberts and specialist technology investor Silver Lake are jointly leading the buy-out group, which also includes Technology Crossover Ventures. The buy-out groups believe there is an opportunity to expand Go Daddy's business globally, while also expanding its services to reach larger businesses. Go Daddy is still owned by Bob Parsons, the Arizona-based entrepreneur who founded the company in 1997, after an earlier sale attempt failed. Parsons filed for an initial public offering of Go Daddy in 2006, but did not push through with the plan. Parsons turned to Qatalyst, the Silicon Valley boutique investment bank run by Frank Quattrone, last year to look into options for selling the company, according to the paper's sources. He would remain an investor in the company and its chief executive after a sale, these people added.
