(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — Internet services provider Tucows (www.tucowsinc.com) announced on Wednesday it has sold all of its equity interest in domain registry service Afilias (www.afilias.info) back to the company for $7.4 million.
The payments will be distributed in three cash installments, starting with $3.2 million on Wednesday, $2.1 million in June 2009, and $2.1 million in December 2009.
The Dublin, Ireland-headquartered Afilias provides global registry services. Its registry and propagation technology supports a wide range of applications, including domain registries such as .INFO, .ORG, .aero, .mobi, .asia, .me, and many country code domains.
“This sale is another step in our stated goal to divest non-core assets in order to unlock hidden value for shareholders,” says Elliot Noss, president and CEO of Tucows. “The proceeds of the sale provide additional funds that will be used to fund further share repurchases.”
Tucows provides a range of Internet services under its OpenSRS brand, which its says manages over eight million domains and millions of email boxes through a reseller network of over 9,000 web hosts and ISPs.
The company’s retail group sells services directly to consumers and small businesses through Domain Direct, It’s Your Domain and NetIdentity.
Last month, the company launched YummyNames, a new service that provides access to a large selection of premium domain names from Tucows’ portfolio.
