Donuts to be acquired by private equity firm Abry Partners

Donuts Inc. today announced that it has entered into an agreement to be acquired by Abry Partners, a leading private equity firm. Terms and timing of the agreement were not disclosed.

Donuts holds the world’s largest portfolio of new top-level domains (TLDs), which includes a wide variety of  names such as .LTD, .COMPANY, .CAREERS, .SUPPORT, .PHOTOGRAPHY, .CAFE,  .HEALTHCARE, .SOCIAL, .WORLD, .LIVE, .TRAVEL, .FAN and .CHARITY.

“Individuals and businesses manage their digital identities in an increasingly complex world of proliferating devices, platforms and access points,” said Erik Brooks, Managing Partner, Abry Partners. “Donuts is ideally positioned with the world’s largest portfolio of new TLDs, a proven team with deep experience in scaling successful technology companies, and a track record of innovation in their industry. We are excited to partner with Donuts and support their next phase of growth and success.”

In the last 18 months, Donuts has acquired Rightside, a complementary registry with a high-quality portfolio of 40 new TLDs and a wholly-owned registrar subsidiary, Name.com; it has launched BL.INK, an enterprise short link management platform used by leading brands such as Coca Cola, TEN (The Enthusiast Network) and many others, and added features for registrars’ and resellers’ SMB customers; it was named one of the Red Herring 100; it has launched Relevant Name Search (RNS), a new domain search tool for channel partners; it was the first Internet registry to surpass the $500,000 mark in sales of individual new TLD domain names; and it was named Number One in the Deloitte Fast 500.

“We are delighted to partner with Abry,” said Bruce Jaffe, Donuts president and chief executive officer. “Over the last thirty years, the firm has built a stellar track record as one of the premier media, communications, business and information services-focused private equity investment firms in North America. We believe their confidence in Donuts underscores the power and magnitude of our opportunity. Moreover, their insights and expertise in our sector will be of enormous benefit to Donuts as we move forward.”

Abry Partners was founded in 1989 and headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, ABRY Partners is an experienced and successful private equity investment firm focused on media, communications, insurance, business and information services. Since its founding, ABRY has completed more than $77 billion of transactions, representing investments in more than 650 properties.