CentralNIC Acquires Instra Group for A$33m

December 9, 2015June 2, 2016

CentralNic (LON:CNIC) which is a back-end registry provider for several new gTLD applicants including DCA Trust is acquiring the privately-owned domain name registrar, Instra Group, in a deal worth A$33 million.

According to the press release “the purchase will extend CentralNic’s capabilities and “significantly increase” its retail offering.”

Instra Group supplies companies in Australia, New Zealand and worldwide with domain names and other services to protect their brands online. CentralNic, one of the fastest growing companies on the London Stock Exchange, has agreed to pay consideration of A$33 million for Instra Group and related companies in Australia and New Zealand.

“Today domain names are just as important as intellectual property assets as trademarks and patents,” said CentralNic’s CEO Ben Crawford. “Through services like instra.com and asiaregistry.com, Instra Group has made it possible for businesses to secure their domain names in every major country in the world, as well as under new Top-Level Domains, including in Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Hindi and Russian.

“I have travelled the world looking for cutting edge companies to acquire, and Instra Group stood out among all the others. Many of the savviest businesses in Australia and around the world are already using Instra as their one-stop shop for online brand protection. It is a fantastic example showing that Australian innovation can serve customers worldwide.”

Instra Group CEO Desleigh Jameson will take on the role of head of all of CentralNic’s retail operations worldwide and join the main Board of CentralNic on the London Stock Exchange.

“We are delighted to have Desleigh and the entire staff across Australia and New Zealand joining the CentralNic family,” said Ben Crawford. “They will ensure that local customers of Instra will continue receiving the great service and brand protection support Instra is famous for.”

“Instra’s new parent company CentralNic will be adding even more domain names from around the world, secured by their business development team on the ground globally,” said Instra Group CEO Desleigh Jameson. “We will also be rolling out internet monitoring services to help brands with early detection of cybersquatting and other domain abuse, and adding new consulting and domain portfolio management tools to our service offering.”