This is WhatsTheHost’s living log of who’s buying whom in web hosting. The dated deal log separates completed acquisitions, sale processes, and related industry developments, and the parent-company lookup table shows who actually owns the brand on your invoice. We update this tracker when deals happen, not on a content calendar, because in this industry the name on your bill and the company running your servers are increasingly different things.
New since September 21: Your.Online added Ireland’s Blacknight and Estonia’s Zone, webgo took in Germany’s Linevast, Swiss host Infomaniak listed on the SIX exchange, and the Financial Times reported that Norton owner Gen Digital approached GoDaddy; on October 28, Gen told investors it was not working on a “transformative acquisition,” per Barron’s. Team Internet’s domains unit and IONOS’s Sedo were still unsold when we checked on November 8, 2026.
I’ve been keeping tabs on the web hosting space for a long time, and even I get surprised: A2 Hosting got acquired and I nearly missed it, and within months the brand itself was renamed Hosting.com. That’s the pattern now. The old roll-up king Endurance International became Newfold Digital back in 2021 and kept absorbing brands; newer platforms like World Host Group are running the same playbook at startup speed, and private equity keeps arriving because hosting subscriptions are annuities: sticky customers, renewal-price power, predictable cash. When a host you use gets bought, the service usually survives fine. The renewal rate is what you watch.
What I’ve realized is that web hosting is like real estate, storage, or an annuity. Consumers buy it with the best hope of using it to its full capacity, but often let projects and junk sit in it and forget about it. This is truly what happens when consumers and SMBs build on hosting.
With enterprise hosting, it’s an entirely different ballgame, scaling on AWS and Google Cloud and the like. This tracker focuses on the hosting brands and related businesses most website owners encounter.
Who owns your host? The lookup table
Last researched and updated: . Before the deal log, the answer most readers came for. The ownership table below links to company statements and transaction reporting; dates identify the acquisition, listing, or announcement, rather than implying every brand joined its parent at once.
| Brand | Parent / ownership and source | Key date | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bluehost, HostGator, Network Solutions, Web.com | Newfold Digital; backed by Clearlake and Siris | 2021 (Newfold formation) | Newfold now emphasizes Bluehost and Network Solutions; Markmonitor has been sold. |
| Hosting.com (formerly A2), FastComet, Rocket.net | World Host Group / hosting.com | 2025 acquisitions | Rocket.net belongs in the same group; A2 rebrand announced May 7, 2025. |
| HostPapa, ColoCrossing, Hostopia, CloudBlue | Managed.com platform | Platform launched Sept 17, 2026 | Existing brands continue under their own names; this announcement is a platform launch. |
| Hostwinds | HostPapa; within the group now presented as Managed.com | Apr 29, 2026 | Acquisition completed; the announcement does not set a customer migration deadline. |
| Blacknight (Ireland), Zone (Estonia) | Your.Online | June 16 and Aug 3, 2026 | Both say they keep their brand and leadership; Your.Online is now the group behind them. |
| Namecheap | CVC-linked acquisition reported and notified | Reported Sept 2025; notified Nov 2025 | Majority transaction reported; closing date not established by the primary evidence reviewed. |
| Squarespace | Permira funds; other shareholders retained stakes | Oct 17, 2024 | Private following the take-private; compare domain, website, and add-on renewal costs. |
| IONOS (formerly 1&1) | Public in Frankfurt; United Internet 63.8% | IPO Feb 2023; stake at June 30, 2026 | Sedo sale process concerns the AdTech business; it is not a sale of IONOS hosting. |
| Infomaniak | Public on the SIX Swiss Exchange (INFO); the Infomaniak Foundation holds the majority of voting rights | Trading since Oct 1, 2026 | Listed, but not up for grabs: the foundation’s voting shares are unlisted and not freely transferable. |
| Cloudways | DigitalOcean | Sept 8, 2022 | Compare current plan and infrastructure charges; ownership does not guarantee unchanged prices. |
| DreamHost | Independent and employee-owned, per the company | Independent since 1997, per company | Independence is an ownership fact, not a guarantee about future renewals. |
| SiteGround | Independent and privately owned | Founded 2004 | Evaluate the renewal price and support separately from ownership. |
| Kinsta | Private; self-funded, per the company | Founded 2013 | Its company history describes bootstrapping; compare the limits of your specific plan. |
| BigScoots | Stone-Goff Partners-backed | Investment announced July 13, 2023 | Still identified as a Stone-Goff portfolio company in its September 9, 2026 update. |
| Markmonitor, Com Laude | Markmonitor Group; PX3 Partners-backed | Seller closed Dec 31, 2025; buyer release Jan 12, 2026 | Markmonitor is no longer part of Newfold; these are corporate domain services. |
| GoDaddy | Public (NYSE: GDDY); a Gen Digital takeover approach was reported on Sept 24, 2026 | IPO 2015; approach reported Sept 2026 | Still public and independent today. No deal, price, or timeline has been announced, and Gen said on October 28 it was not working on a transformative acquisition; check your contract and renewal notice for actual price changes. |
Ownership tells you who makes the decisions. It doesn’t, by itself, prove that a price increase or support change is coming. Use our renewal markup index alongside your actual renewal notice, and check whether two hosts on your shortlist belong to the same group.
2026 deals and industry updates
Infomaniak lists on the Swiss stock exchange through a reverse takeover (completed Sept 25, 2026)
Status: completed; trading since October 1. Swiss host Infomaniak went public by having Perrot Duval Holding, a company listed since 1905, acquire it in exchange for newly issued shares. Completion followed on September 25, and the renamed Infomaniak SA has traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange under the ticker INFO since October 1, as webhosting.today reported. The company’s own October 1 post says the Infomaniak Foundation keeps the majority of voting rights through unlisted shares that are not freely transferable.
Infomaniak told customers: “For customers, nothing changes: services, contracts and data location remain the same.” Why it matters: this is the opposite of a roll-up. A European host raised access to public capital while writing its independence into its share structure, so a buyer cannot simply purchase control on the market.
Gen Digital’s reported approach to GoDaddy (Sept 24, 2026)
Status: reported approach; no deal confirmed. The Financial Times reported on September 24 that Gen Digital, the owner of Norton and Avast, was in early-stage talks to acquire GoDaddy, per Domain Name Wire, which noted GoDaddy’s shares rose more than 13 percent on the news. Four days later Gen filed a LinkedIn post by CEO Vincent Pilette with the SEC. It opens: “Is Gen buying GoDaddy?” and continues, “I can’t comment on rumors, but I can explain how we think about acquisitions” (SEC exhibit 99.1). Neither company has announced terms, a price, or an agreement; we found none through November 8, 2026.
October 28 update: On its quarterly earnings call, Gen’s management said the company was not working on a “transformative acquisition,” Barron’s reported on October 29, and read the remark as ending the GoDaddy speculation. Gen did not name GoDaddy in that remark as reported, and the statement covers the present, not the future.
Why it matters: GoDaddy is one of the biggest hosts and registrars in this tracker that still answers only to public shareholders. Until a signed agreement appears, treat this as a reported approach that Gen has since played down, not a change of owner.
Managed.com launches above HostPapa and related brands (Sept 17, 2026)
Status: platform launch. Managed.com announced its launch as the platform for HostPapa, ColoCrossing, Hostopia, CloudBlue, and LogoMaker. The company says it has integrated more than 20 acquired businesses and that the individual brands will keep serving their markets under their own names. This adds a new name to the ownership map without establishing a new sale of HostPapa.
Jamie Opalchuk, founder and CEO of Managed.com, said: “For our customers and partners, nothing changes today: it’s the same brands and the same commitment” (September 17 announcement). For customers, the useful follow-up is whether their billing entity, support route, or service terms change later.
Team Internet advances its domains-business sale process (Sept 7, 2026)
Status: sale process; no agreed transaction confirmed in this update. In its September 7 interim results, Team Internet said discussions over its Domains, Identity and Software division were advanced, with multiple parties interested in all or parts of the business. Management still expected a valuation materially above $160 million and any agreed transaction to complete around year-end. Those are expectations, not a signed price or closing date.
CEO Michael Riedl said, “We are optimizing for price and not for timeline.” The quote comes from the September 7 analyst call, as reported by webhosting.today. For registrar and reseller customers, a named buyer and a signed agreement are the next developments to watch.
November 8 check: no buyer had been announced by September 30, per webhosting.today’s Q3 review, and we found no announcement since.
Bending Spoons completes Airtable acquisition (Sept 4, 2026)
Status: completed; adjacent software deal. Airtable confirmed the closing on September 4, updating the August 4 agreement covered in the previous edition. Axios reported a $1.29 billion cash deal at announcement. Airtable is a database and workflow platform, so this is context for subscription-business consolidation rather than a web hosting acquisition.
In Airtable’s closing announcement, Bending Spoons CEO Luca Ferrari described a focus on “investing heavily in Airtable’s product, customer support, and go-to-market capabilities.” (Source). That is management’s stated plan; the transaction alone does not establish future customer pricing.
IONOS keeps Sedo classified for sale in its half-year report (Aug 6, 2026)
Status: divestiture process. The H1 2026 financial report confirms that the decision to sell Sedo and its AdTech business was made in September 2025, correcting the previous edition’s H1 2026 timing. The report continues to present the business as discontinued and held for sale. A completed sale was not established by the sources reviewed for this update. This is a disposal of a domain-marketing and advertising business, not the sale of IONOS’s hosting operation.
November 8 check: IONOS had targeted a Sedo sale by the third quarter, but its announcements listed no sale through September 30, per webhosting.today. IONOS publishes its third-quarter statement on November 12, 2026; we will update this entry then.
Your.Online adds Estonia’s Zone (Aug 3, 2026)
Status: announced; price not disclosed. Zone, an Estonian domain registrar and host founded in 1999, is joining Your.Online. The announcement says Zone will keep operating independently under co-founder and CEO Martti Varik. Why it matters: Your.Online, a Dutch group that webhosting.today counts at more than 60 acquisitions since 2017, keeps buying well-known national hosts and leaving the local brand on the door, as it did with Blacknight in Ireland two months earlier.
Automattic reported as the new WebHosting.com domain owner (July 2, 2026)
Status: reported domain acquisition; commercial plans unconfirmed. Elliot Silver reported at DomainInvesting.com that WebHosting.com had moved from AT&T to Automattic, citing registrant records and an Automattic-branded coming-soon page. The report does not disclose a purchase price. A domain transfer is not evidence that Automattic acquired AT&T’s hosting customers or launched a new service. We will update this entry when the company provides transaction or product details. As of November 8, 2026, we found no launch announcement.
webgo brings Linevast into its group (July 1, 2026)
Status: announced; price not disclosed. Hamburg-based host webgo announced that Linevast is joining the webgo group, with an eye on business hosting and managed servers. Its announcement says brands, products, contacts and support stay as they are, and that customers of either company do not need to do anything. The July 1 date comes from webhosting.today’s Q3 review. Why it matters: our read is that German mid-size hosts are pairing up with each other rather than waiting for a pan-European buyer.
Green Olive Tree buys ZebraHost for $1.1 million (closed June 22, 2026)
Status: completed; trade-press report. Green Olive Tree, a U.S. veteran-owned managed host, bought ZebraHost, a cloud and colocation provider in business since 2000, for $1.1 million. The deal closed on June 22 and became public on July 15, as webhosting.today reported. We have not found a separate company release. Why it matters: it is a rare small deal with a disclosed price, and a reminder that founder retirements drive a lot of quiet consolidation at the small end of hosting.
Blacknight joins Your.Online (June 16, 2026)
Status: announced; price not disclosed. Blacknight, the Carlow-founded Irish registrar and host, announced it is joining Your.Online to secure long-term investment. Domain Name Wire reported it as an acquisition. Why it matters: webhosting.today called Blacknight Ireland’s largest independent host. If you host there, the brand and team stay, per the companies, but the owner is now a European roll-up.
HostPapa completes acquisition of Hostwinds (Apr 29, 2026)
Status: completed. HostPapa announced its acquisition of Hostwinds, adding shared hosting, cloud VPS, dedicated servers, and reseller services, with facilities in Seattle, Dallas, and Amsterdam. HostPapa said customers would continue receiving service under the brand with support from the broader organization. No price was disclosed in the release. Customers should watch actual migration and renewal notices; the announcement does not support the previous edition’s prediction of a migration within a year.
Com Laude announces completed Markmonitor acquisition (Jan 12, 2026)
Status: completed December 31, 2025; buyer announcement January 12, 2026. Newfold dated its closing announcement December 31; Com Laude announced the combined Markmonitor Group on January 12. The buyer described an initial enterprise value of about $450 million for the combined group. That figure is not the disclosed purchase price for Markmonitor alone.
Newfold CEO Sharon Rowlands said: “This sale allows us to simplify our portfolio and strengthen our focus on Bluehost and Network Solutions” (closing announcement). This is a useful reminder that consolidators can sell businesses as well as buy them.
2025 deals
CVC majority investment in Namecheap reported (Sept 12, 2025)
What happened: September 2025 reporting described a CVC majority investment valuing Namecheap at about $1.5 billion including debt. A November 3 competition notification identifies a CVC-linked acquisition vehicle, and CVC’s 2025 results presentation lists Namecheap among selected investments. That presentation includes signed but unclosed deals, so it does not establish a closing date. Why it matters: Namecheap is a major registrar and host, but the evidence should not be stretched into a precise ownership-transfer date or a prediction about renewals. Our registrar rankings help compare the customer-facing offer.
Rocket.net joins hosting.com (Aug 2025)
Status: acquired; historical addition to this update. Hosting.com’s acquisition history dates Rocket.net joining the group to August 2025. Rocket founder Ben Gabler became hosting.com’s chief product officer, and Jess Frick took over as Rocket CEO. This matters when comparing managed WordPress hosts: Rocket.net and hosting.com belong to the same group even when their products and brands remain distinct.
Limestone Networks buys four hosting brands (Aug 20, 2025)
What happened: Dallas-based Limestone Networks, historically bare-metal and colocation, acquired BreezeTech Hosting, Silver Hosting, Snowside Hosting, and NextArray in one move, per the announcement. Why it matters: infrastructure providers are buying their way up-stack into shared and VPS hosting because retail hosting carries higher margins per server than wholesale metal. Expect bundles.
itesys AG acquires Hosting Solutions GmbH (July 10, 2025)
What happened: Swiss SAP-hosting specialist itesys bought Germany’s Hosting Solutions GmbH, deepening DACH coverage in managed SAP and ISO 27001 data-center hosting, per its announcement. Why it matters: vertical hosting (one industry, deep compliance) consolidates on its own track, and enterprise workloads follow certifications, not coupons.
World Host Group acquires FastComet (Apr 24, 2025)
What happened: WHG added FastComet, a developer-favorite brand with a support reputation, per the announcement. WHG’s own corporate page now counts 30+ acquisitions in roughly three years. Why it matters: that pace makes WHG the one to watch in the mid-market. Platform unification across 30+ brands is where support quality and pricing both get decided.
World Host Group acquires A2 Hosting (Jan 29, 2025)
What happened: WHG bought A2 Hosting, the U.S. performance host, per the announcement coverage, and on May 7, 2025, announced the A2 rebrand in favor of Hosting.com. Why it matters: this is a clear acquisition-to-rebrand example. A promotional price and a later renewal price do not, by themselves, prove that the acquisition caused a price increase. Our Hosting.com review covers what changed for customers, and our A2 vs SiteGround comparison got rewritten around the new reality.
2024 deals
group.one acquires C4 Webhosting (Dec 16, 2024)
What happened: group.one, parent of one.com and Webglobe, bought Czech provider C4 Webhosting to strengthen Central and Eastern Europe coverage, per its newsroom. Why it matters: the European roll-up model keeps local brand names while standardizing the platform underneath, so customers often don’t learn who owns them until pricing changes arrive.
Permira takes Squarespace private (closed Oct 17, 2024)
What happened: Permira completed its all-cash take-private of Squarespace at a value around $7.2B, per the closing release. Why it matters: Squarespace is a site builder first, but it bundles hosting and domains, and this deal proved private capital will pay premium multiples for web-presence subscriptions. Every hosting founder’s exit math changed that day.
Freshstream takes majority stake in Worldstream (May 31, 2024)
What happened: UK/Benelux PE firm Freshstream took majority control of Dutch infrastructure host Worldstream, per the company. Why it matters: growth-equity money in IaaS means data-center expansion, and infrastructure capacity built now is what the AI-era hosting demand lands on later.
team.blue acquires Loopia Group (May 23, 2024)
What happened: Hg-backed team.blue added Loopia Group’s Nordic and CEE customer base, pushing its portfolio past 3 million customers, per the announcement. Why it matters: the pan-European “portfolio of local champions” strategy at full speed; team.blue, group.one, and WHG are running the same race on different continents.
group.one acquires Webglobe (May 21, 2024)
What happened: group.one signed for Webglobe across Slovakia, Czechia, and Serbia, cementing its CEE hub, per its newsroom. Why it matters: see C4 above; this was the hub that deal plugged into.
Summit Hosting acquires Deft (Feb 2024)
What happened: U.S. application-hosting provider Summit acquired Deft’s managed data-center and cloud business, per Business Wire. Why it matters: mid-market hosts are broadening into colocation and hybrid because compliance-heavy customers pay for one accountable vendor.
What this consolidation means for you
If your host gets acquired: an ownership announcement is your cue to review the account. A migration, changed support process, or higher bill needs its own evidence. Check your current rate the week you hear the news, screenshot your plan terms, and know your alternative before the next invoice. Our hosting comparison and recommendation quiz can help you compare alternatives; confirm the current terms with the provider before moving.
If you’re choosing a host: ownership belongs in the decision next to price and support. The lookup table above plus the renewal markup index on our homepage together answer the real question: not just what does it cost, but who decides what it costs next year.
If your host’s brand just disappeared: we convert reviews of renamed and dying brands into status pages that explain what happened and where to go; the 1&1-to-IONOS page shows the format.
Tracker FAQ
Why do web hosting companies get acquired so often?
Because hosting subscriptions behave like annuities: customers rarely move, revenue recurs, and the owner controls renewal pricing. Those traits attract both strategic buyers and private equity. This tracker includes the reported CVC-Namecheap transaction and Permira’s completed Squarespace take-private, alongside acquisitions of smaller hosting brands.
What happens to my website when my hosting company is acquired?
An acquisition does not automatically move your website. Read the provider’s notices for changes to infrastructure, support, terms, or billing. Keep an independent backup, save your plan details, and check the renewal rate when the deal is announced. There is no universal migration timetable or automatic price increase established by the transactions listed here.
Is GoDaddy being acquired?
Not as of November 8, 2026. The Financial Times reported on September 24, 2026 that Gen Digital had approached GoDaddy, and Gen’s CEO declined to comment on what he called rumors. On October 28, Gen said it was not working on a transformative acquisition. No agreement, price, or timeline has been announced. GoDaddy remains a public company listed on the NYSE.
Which groups own multiple web hosting brands?
Newfold Digital, World Host Group / hosting.com, Managed.com, team.blue, group.one, and Your.Online all bring multiple brands together. Hosting.com reports more than 30 acquisitions over roughly three years; Managed.com says its platform has integrated more than 20 businesses; webhosting.today counts more than 60 acquisitions by Your.Online since 2017. Those are acquisition counts, not comparable rankings of currently active brands.
Which hosts are still independent?
As checked on September 21, 2026, DreamHost describes itself as employee-owned and independent since 1997, SiteGround says it remains privately and independently owned, and Kinsta describes itself as self-funded. Their company statements are linked in the table. Infomaniak is now publicly listed, but its foundation holds the majority of voting rights, per the company on October 1, 2026. Independence does not guarantee low renewal prices, and a brand keeping its name does not establish independence: Rocket.net, BigScoots and Blacknight are useful examples.
What we include
Selected hosting, domain, and web-presence transactions involving the U.S. or Europe, plus clearly labelled adjacent software and platform developments. Entries distinguish closing dates from announcement dates and sale processes from completed deals. This is a curated tracker, not a census of every acquisition. Company releases establish what management announced; quotes describe the speaker’s position, not independently verified customer outcomes. Entries added in November 2026 were checked on November 2 and re-checked on November 8, 2026; entries carried over from the September 21, 2026 edition were reviewed then. Spot a deal we missed or an error? Leave a comment with the announcement link and date.
Sources for the November 2026 additions
Retrieved November 2, 2026, and re-checked November 8, 2026.
- Infomaniak: Infomaniak is listed on the Swiss stock exchange (October 1, 2026)
- Domain Name Wire: Norton antivirus software maker in talks to acquire GoDaddy (September 24, 2026)
- Gen Digital, SEC exhibit 99.1: Vincent Pilette LinkedIn post
- Barron’s: Gen Digital says it is not working on a transformative acquisition (October 29, 2026)
- webhosting.today: Hosting M&A in Q3 2026 (October 15, 2026)
- Your.Online: Zone joins Your.Online (August 3, 2026)
- Your.Online: Blacknight joins Your.Online
- Domain Name Wire: Your.Online acquires Blacknight (June 18, 2026)
- webhosting.today: After more than 60 acquisitions, Your.Online backs a trust services company (October 20, 2026)
- webgo: linevast wird Teil der webgo Gruppe (German)
- webhosting.today: Green Olive Tree acquires ZebraHost for $1.1 million (July 15, 2026)
- Domain Incite: Team Internet still expects over $160 million for domains business (September 7, 2026)
Update log
- : Added Infomaniak’s SIX listing, the reported Gen Digital approach to GoDaddy, Your.Online’s purchases of Blacknight and Zone, webgo and Linevast, and Green Olive Tree and ZebraHost. Added November 8 status checks to the Team Internet, IONOS Sedo and Automattic entries. Added Gen’s October 28 statement that it was not working on a transformative acquisition. Added Your.Online and Infomaniak rows and a GoDaddy note to the lookup table, a GoDaddy FAQ, and a sources list for the new entries.
- : Updated title, date, and ownership table; added Managed.com, Team Internet, Markmonitor, and Rocket.net coverage; confirmed Airtable closing; added sourced executive quotes; corrected A2 rebrand timing, DreamHost year, IONOS sale-process timing, and Namecheap status; removed unsupported migration and pricing forecasts.
- : Full refresh: added 2026 deals (Bending Spoons-Airtable, Automattic-WebHosting.com reported, HostPapa-Hostwinds, IONOS AdTech divestiture), added the parent-company lookup table and tracker FAQ, corrected the Endurance-to-Newfold reference, rewrote all deal analyses.
- : Added CVC-Namecheap; updated commentary on PE trends.
- : Added Limestone Networks 4-brand acquisitions.
- : Added itesys-Hosting Solutions.
- : Original tracker published.
