News

Transaction supports Newfold Digital’s focus on core global brands, Bluehost and Network Solutions

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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – September 24, 2025: Newfold Digital, a leading web and commerce technology company serving nearly 7 million customers globally, backed by Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. (together with affiliates, “Clearlake”) and Siris Capital Group (together with affiliates, “Siris”), today announced it has entered into an agreement to sell Markmonitor to Com Laude, a global corporate registrar owned by PX3 Partners, the London-headquartered private equity firm.

The sale is part of Newfold Digital’s strategy to simplify its portfolio and double down on the areas where it can deliver the greatest value to customers – its core brands, Bluehost and Network Solutions. These businesses provide web presence, hosting, and retail registrar services that are central to Newfold Digital’s long-term vision. Bluehost, trusted by over five million WordPress users, and Network Solutions, a long-time leader in domains and SMB online presence supporting millions of web properties, are both advancing their platforms with AI-driven website creation and innovative capabilities to help customers launch, grow and stand out online.

“This step strengthens our focus on Bluehost and Network Solutions, positioning us to accelerate growth and deliver even greater value to customers,” said Sharon Rowlands, CEO of Newfold Digital. “We appreciate the contributions of the Markmonitor team and are confident Com Laude is the right partner to advance Markmonitor’s next phase of growth.”

The terms of the transaction are subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.

RBC Capital Markets is serving as exclusive financial advisor, KPMG is serving as accounting and tax advisor, and Sidley Austin is serving as legal advisor to Newfold.

About Newfold Digital

Newfold Digital is a leading web and commerce technology company serving nearly 7 million customers globally. Our portfolio of brands includes: Network Solutions, Web.com, Bluehost, Crazy Domains, HostGator, Markmonitor, Network Solutions, Yoast and many others. We help customers of all sizes build a digital presence that delivers results. With our extensive product offerings and personalized support, we take pride in collaborating with our customers to serve their online presence needs. Learn more about Newfold Digital at Newfold.com.

About Clearlake

Clearlake Capital Group is a global investment firm managing integrated platforms spanning private equity, liquid and private credit, and other related strategies. Founded in 2006, the firm has more than $90 billion of assets under management and has led or co-led over 400 investments globally. With deep knowledge and operational expertise across the technology, industrials, and consumer sectors, Clearlake seeks to partner with experienced management teams, providing patient, long-term capital and aiming to drive value through its active hands-on operating approach, O.P.S.® (Operations, People, Strategy). Headquartered in Santa Monica, Clearlake maintains a global footprint with offices in Dallas, New York, London, Dublin, Luxembourg, Abu Dhabi, and Singapore. For more information, please visit clearlake.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

About Siris

Siris is a leading private equity firm that targets control investments in North American, middle-market technology and technology-enabled services companies. Siris leverages its Executive Partner network to deliver on strategic and operational portfolio company value creation objectives. Siris is based in New York and West Palm Beach and has invested ~$9 billion since inception as of December 31, 2024. www.siris.com

Newfold Digital Media Contact:

Nicole Cassis

Nicole.cassis@newfold.com

904-629-4388

Clearlake Media Contact:

Tasha Pelio

Tasha.pelio@clearlake.com

917-880-7675

Siris Media Contact:

Dana Gorman / Mallory Griffin

dana.gorman@h-advisors.global / mallory.griffin@h-advisors.global

212-371-5999

Combining EQ’s shareholder services and robust Investor Relations (IR) capabilities with Notified’s public relations (PR) and IR solutions to help companies grow, engage stakeholders and communicate with confidence at every stage.

Transaction Highlights

• Establishes Comprehensive Solution: Combines EQ’s shareholder services leadership and robust IR capabilities with Notified’s PR and IR expertise to deliver a comprehensive solution for companies at every stage of growth.
• Supports the Full Corporate Lifecycle: Equips public and private companies with tools for shareholder engagement, disclosure and media outreach from pre-IPO through maturity.
• Extends Global Reach and Client Base: Serves 12,000 clients in 90 countries including more than half of the FTSE 100, one third of the S&P 500 and half of the Nasdaq.  
• Accelerates Innovation and Growth: Leverages combined expertise and proven platforms to meet evolving client needs and rising regulatory demands.

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Comments from Dan Kramer (CEO, EQ Shareholder Services) and Nimesh Dave (President, Notified)

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NEW YORK, May 01, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Equiniti (EQ)1, a global leader in shareholder services, today announced it has completed its acquisition of Notified, the award-winning provider of public relations (PR) and investor relations (IR) solutions from West Technology Group, LLC. The transaction, originally announced on March 17, 2025, brings together two trusted brands to deliver an unmatched end-to-end suite of PR, IR and share registry services and technology.

Together, EQ and Notified deliver an unmatched suite of services and technology that support organizations through every stage of the corporate lifecycle— from growing small to medium sized businesses (SMBs) and pre-IPO companies to large public enterprises navigating today’s dynamic markets around the world. The combined business supports 12,000 clients across 90 countries. With Notified’s broad geographic footprint, the combination also enables EQ to expand its global reach and better serve clients in key international markets.

"In today's dynamic market environment, effective shareholder communication is more important than ever," said Dan Kramer, CEO of EQ Shareholder Services. "By integrating Notified's award-winning PR and IR capabilities into our service mix, we are empowering clients with a truly comprehensive solution that drives enhanced shareholder engagement and delivers measurable results. This acquisition immediately provides our clients with powerful new tools to strengthen stakeholder relationships and drive business value."

The transaction combines EQ’s deep expertise in providing transfer agency, ownership intelligence, proxy management and advisory, employee plans, private company solutions, retirement and remediation services with Notified’s widely adopted PR and IR solutions. Each organization serves IR professionals in different but complementary ways. In addition to its shareholder services leadership, EQ brings a robust set of global IR capabilities—including share register analysis, investor targeting, and perception studies—helping companies understand market sentiment and execute unconflicted, data-driven strategies to engage current and prospective investors.  

By joining forces, EQ and Notified are significantly strengthening the end-to-end support available to IR teams—combining EQ’s governance and ownership intelligence capabilities with Notified’s robust tools for media engagement, real-time analytics, earnings events, IR websites, regulatory filings and GlobeNewswire distribution. This investment will accelerate innovation across the combined offering, as demonstrated by recent advancements like CLEAR’s identity verification technology, expanded premium services and AI-powered tools designed to deliver secure, efficient and modern communications.

"Notified has always prioritized innovation that serves the evolving needs of communications professionals," said Nimesh Davé, President of Notified. "Joining EQ empowers us with greater resources to accelerate our technology roadmap while expanding our reach. Our combined platform now addresses the full spectrum of corporate communications needs, creating a powerful solution for our combined client base. We're energized by the opportunity to build on our success and deliver even more exceptional value to communicators worldwide."

This acquisition builds on the successful integration of EQ and AST, alongside investment in technology and an additional recent acquisition, demonstrating commitment from owners, Siris Capital, to future growth. These moves further solidify EQ’s position as a global leader in shareholder services, financial communications and compliance solutions.  

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About Equiniti (EQ)

EQ helps companies better understand and manage the ownership of their business through every stage of the corporate lifecycle. As trusted advisors, we provide strategic insight and operational expertise across our core services—Transfer Agent Services, Employee Plan Solutions, Ownership Intelligence, Proxy Management and Advisory and Private Company Solutions. Globally, EQ supports 2,200 global issuer clients and 20 million shareholders with operations in the UK, U.S., and India. Learn more at equiniti.com/global.

About Notified

We are Notified, and your story goes here. As the only technology partner dedicated to both investor relations and public relations professionals, we help you control and amplify your corporate narrative. Our fully integrated PR and IR platforms streamline every step—whether it’s reaching the right media, press release distribution, and measurement or designing new IR websites, managing investor days, earnings releases, and regulatory filings. Connecting both worlds, GlobeNewswire is one of the world’s largest and most trusted newswire distribution networks, serving leading organizations for over 30 years. Together, we empower communicators to inform a better world.  Learn more at notified.com.

Media Contact

Teneo
Martin Robinson
Tel: +44 20 7353 4200
Email: Equiniti@teneo.com

Armor Holding II, LLC and Orbit Private Holdings I Limited (together, EQ)
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ee4a32ea-2e00-4975-ae41-5d73d43824eb