Endurance International to Acquire Directi for Rs. 700 Crores

US-based Endurance International Group Inc, a provider of cloud-based SMB solutions, has struck a deal to buy Mumbai-based Directi Web Technology Pvt Ltd among other group entities for $110 million (Rs 700 crores). Controlled by Warburg Pincus and Goldman Sachs, Endurance has also filed with the US Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) to raise up to $400 million in an initial public offering.

Established in 1998 by Bhavin Turakhia (19 years of age then) along with his brother Divyank with Rs 25,000 ($600 back then) lent by his father, Directi develops innovative mass-market web products with more than 25 offerings. The company has more than 1 million customers across the world and more than 1,000 employees. The combined product portfolio of various Directi businesses includes communication and collaboration apps, social networking software, instant messaging, context analysis engines, anti-spam and antivirus solutions, large-scale billing and provisioning platforms, traffic monetisation solutions, online ad solutions and web hosting control panels.

The deal is for selling a part of the overall business. Given the product and service basket of the group, it could not be immediately ascertained which business units are being retained by the Turakhias. In an interview with last year, Bhavin Turakhia had said the overall group is valued at $350 million. He had also said that he was looking to raise around $50-100 million in funding for the company’s subsidiary Radix FZC. It could not be immediately ascertained if the deal also includes Radix.

As per the SEC filing by Endurance on Tuesday, last month it entered into a master-share purchase agreement to acquire all of the outstanding capital stock of Directi Web Technology from Directi Technology Holdings Inc, for an amount estimated to be between $100 million and $110 million in cash or, at the election of the seller, a combination of cash and shares of its common stock, subject to conditions.

Directi provides web presence solutions to SMBs in various countries, including India, the US, Turkey, China, Russia and Indonesia. The acquisition is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2013.

In connection with the deal, Endurance has paid $5 million to Directi Holdings, which will be credited against the purchase price and will be refunded if the acquisition does not close for specified reasons.

Under the agreement, Endurance will pay around half of the total price in cash at the closing of the acquisition (after factoring out the $5 million it paid initially). It will also issue a promissory note to Directi Holdings for the balance due with the note maturing on April 15, 2014. At maturity, it will be obligated to pay an amount equal to the greater of the original principal amount of the promissory note or the annualised revenues associated with the Directi business for specified periods.

Founded in 1997 by Indian-origin Hari Ravichandran, Endurance is a leading web-hosting solutions provider which owns a slew of online sites such as Domain.com, iPage and HostGator.com. Formerly BizLand, the company is headquartered in Massachusetts. It manages over 2.9 million customers and 10 million domains across the globe.

In November 2011, Endurance’s earlier investor and technology-focused PE firm, Accel-KKR had sold its majority shares to Warburg Pincus and Goldman Sachs Capital Partners, which valued the company at $1 billion then.

via: TechCircle