Abstract

GoDaddy Inc., a US-based domain registrar and web hosting company, decided in 2020 to expand beyond its core business of domain registration and web hosting. With this aim, it acquired a Cape Town, South Africa-based social content start-up Over Inc. (Over), in January 2020. Over, an app available on iOS as well as Android, had more than 1 million monthly active users ranging from large businesses, graphic designers, and entrepreneurs to bloggers, vloggers, and influencers. The app was used in more than 120 countries worldwide. Over had exclusive fonts, artwork, and other graphic enhancement tools to edit photos and videos that could be shared on social media or through emails. GoDaddy intended to integrate Over’s capabilities into its Websites + Marketing platform. It expected the move to improve user experience for small businesses and entrepreneurs who did not have much of an online presence or the technical knowhow to build an eye-catching website.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understanding different types of Business Expansion Strategies
• Evaluating the benefits of an Acquisition to a business

Keywords

GoDaddy; Web Hosting; Web Designing; Acquisition; Growth; Website Building; Internet Domain; M&A in Technology; Expansion; Acquisition as a Growth Strategy; Inorganic Growth