Norton Owner Gen Digital Is Reported to Be Eyeing GoDaddy

One of the biggest names in small business web hosting may be in play. On September 24, the Financial Times reported that Gen Digital, the company behind Norton and Avast, had made an early approach to buy GoDaddy.

We have not read the Financial Times story itself, which is behind a paywall. The details below come from Domain Name Wire and Yahoo Finance, which reported on it.

What We Know

• The report describes early talks. As quoted by Yahoo Finance, the Financial Times said talks are "still at an early stage and there is no guarantee the approach will ultimately lead to a transaction."
• Neither company had made a statement when those reports were published.
• No deal price has been confirmed.

Domain Name Wire noted that Gen Digital was formed in 2022 when NortonLifeLock and Avast merged. It reported that GoDaddy's market value rose 13 percent after the news, to about $13.6 billion. Gen Digital's fell 7 percent, to about $14.6 billion.

[Talks are] still at an early stage and there is no guarantee the approach will ultimately lead to a transaction.

What We Do Not Know

We do not know if a deal will happen, what it would cost, or what either company would change. Any deal of this size would also take months to close.

What It Could Mean for Customers

For now, nothing changes. Your GoDaddy domains, hosting and email keep working as they do today.

If a deal does happen, owners should watch for changes to plans, bundles and renewal prices. That is normal after any big purchase. It is a good moment to check a few basics anyway:

• Make sure your domain is registered in your business name.
• Know when your domain and hosting renew, and at what price.
• Keep your own backup of your website and a list of your DNS records.

Those steps help no matter who owns your host.