(New York) American activist investor Starboard Value bought about 6.5% of the shares of domain name manager on the internet GoDaddy, causing its stock to jump on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday.
In a document filed with the American financial markets authority, Starboard indicates that it owns 10.8 million shares of GoDaddy as of December 24, which were worth $ 825 million at the closing price on Friday.
The investment company believes that GoDaddy is “undervalued” on the stock market: its stock closed on Friday down 8% from its level at the start of the year.
Starboard emphasizes being ready to “start a dialogue” with management and shareholders, including on a possible merger or split of all or part of GoDaddy, on a change in capitalization, on a change in the board of directors, on buybacks actions or any other action improving the financial situation of the company.
After the announcement of Starboard’s entry into the capital, GoDaddy soared 9.2% to $ 83 around 5 p.m. GMT on Wall Street on Monday.
Founded in 1997 by Bob Parsons, GoDaddy was acquired by the KKR, Silver Lake and TCV funds in 2011 before going public in 2015.
Accredited since 2000 by Icann, the global internet regulator, to register web addresses, the group managed 82 million domain names at the end of 2020, or 22% of the global market for which it claims first place.
GoDaddy also provides its customers with tools to build and manage their website and online stores.