CentralNic Group PLC (LON:CNIC) said it has acquired French firm SafeBrands, a provider of online brand protection software and corporate internet services, for up to €3.6mln (£3.2mln) in cash.
The internet domain names specialist said €3mln (£2.7mln) of the purchase price has been paid upfront, with the remaining €600,000 (££538,213) to be paid subject to SafeBrands meeting agreed financial objectives for the 2020 financial year.
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CentralNic noted that SafeBrands’ client list includes some leading French brands and it is “ideally positioned” to take advantage of the brand protection, domain name system (DNS) and hosting markets which it said are “all growing rapidly as [COVID-19] has accelerated the digitisation of business”.
The firm added that SafeBrands’ strong position in the French market complements its brand services business and positions the group as “the European champion for corporate domain portfolio management and online brand protection, as well as one of the top three global leaders available to serve customers in any country”.
"The acquisition of SafeBrands is an important next step for CentralNic in our strategy to provide comprehensive end-to-end digital domain name and online brand protection services to enterprise clients, globally”, CentralNic chief executive Ben Crawford said in a statement.
“We are delighted that SafeBrands, its talented team of domain and IP protection experts, cutting-edge software and service portfolio and established business relationships, are becoming part of our Group. Intellectual Property is the lifeblood of any company, creating value and differentiation, and the successful future of any brand depends on protecting its IP with maximum efficiency. SafeBrands' brand protection products will help CentralNic further broaden our capabilities in this space, creating an unparalleled suite of solutions for our current and future customers", he added.
Meanwhile, the company also announced it is renaming its corporate division as the enterprise division, in line with its prior practice. The company also said it has appointed executive Haydn Simpson as head of brand services, one of the key constituents of the new division.
CentralNic also said that as part of the reorganisation it has entered an arrangement with Novagraaf, one of the world’s largest trademark and patent filers, which includes a reciprocal reseller agreement for domain names and brand protection services as well as CentralNic selling its minority stake in ThomsenTrampedach, a Swiss-based online brand protection service provider, to Novagraaf.