CentralNic acquires domain name and hosting reseller TPP Wholesale

Subscription internet service CentralNic has agreed to acquire Australian and New Zealand domain name and hosting reseller TPP Wholesale for AUD $24m in cash.

CentralNic expects the acquisition of TPP to be immediately earnings enhancing, with double-digit earnings accretion forecast for 2020, and also believes the integration of TPP to the wider group will provide "significant scope for cost synergies".

In addition to the AUD $24m cash payment, the AIM-listed group will also assume certain liabilities of roughly AUD $1.6m from TPP's current owner ARQ.

CentralNic also noted that given the acquisition was a carve-out from a listed entity, it expects to incur a number of one-off integration costs of around AUD $1.8m, of which AUD $700,000 were expected to arise in its current financial year.

Chief executive Ben Crawford said: "We are delighted to become the leading supplier to domain name and hosting resellers in Australasia through this highly earnings accretive acquisition.

"We look forward to bringing the benefit of our global resources to our thousands of new Australian and New Zealand domain name reseller customers. The timing of this deal is propitious as it allows CentralNic to participate fully in the proposed launch of the new .au domain extension."

As of 0900 BST, CentralNic shares had climbed 5.26% to 60p.