Sedo, the leading online domain marketplace and monetization provider, announced today that it has sold its remaining shares to parent company, AdLINK Group.
Following their decision to concentrate on the two performance-based online marketing businesses Sedo and Affilinet, the management and supervisory board of AdLINK Group decided to buy the remaining 24.06 percent of Sedo from the founders for 4.25 million newly issued shares and EUR 5.5 million in cash. The proceeds of EUR 45.1 million will be used to reduce the company’s financial debt. In addition, the AdLINK Group expects to receive extraordinary income of around EUR 12.7 million from the sale of the two investments.
“Under the excellent supervision of our talented management team, AdLINK Group has become one of Europe´s leading suppliers of digital marketing. Sedo has become the global leader for domain trading and parking, while Affilinet has grown from a start-up to a leading and profitable affiliate network in Europe with presence in five markets,” said Michael Scheeren, chairman of the supervisory board of AdLINK group. “With Tim Schumacher, founder and managing director of Sedo and now the new CEO of AdLINK, and Alexander Röthinger, longstanding CTO of Affilinet and now the new CTO of AdLINK at the helm, two experienced managers who are familiar with the business models of the AdLINK Group will help the company to build on its success and expand its global foot print.”
“AdLINK Group’s new strategy driven by its increased investment in Sedo underscores the strength of the domain industry business model,” said Ulrich Essmann, president, Sedo. “With the continued global demand for premium domains and monetization services, the company is positioned for tremendous growth and greater dominance in the industry.”
About Sedo
Sedo, an acronym for “Search Engine for Domain Offers,” is the leading domain marketplace and monetization provider. Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., Sedo has assembled the world's largest database of domain names for sale, with more than 15 million listings. The success of Sedo’s model has attracted a global membership base of more than 900,000 domain professionals. Sedo is majority-owned by AdLINK Group (ISIN DE0005490155 / German WKN: 549015), which is part of the German United Internet AG (ISIN DE0005089031/ WKN 508903). Sedo offers regional versions of its site for the UK (Sedo.co.uk), France (Sedo.fr), Germany (Sedo.de), and Spain (Sedo.com). For additional information, please visit www.sedo.com.
About AdLINK Group
AdLINK Group is a leading European supplier of online performance-based marketing solutions. The AdLINK Group reaches over 100 million unique users around the world via its brands Affilinet (www.affili.net) and Sedo (www.sedo.com). With the aid of our own sophisticated advertising technology, visitors to over 6 million internet domains and websites are converted into sales leads and customers. For additional information, please visit www.adlinkgroup.net.