CentralNIC acquires top tier Slovakian domain registrar

Internet domain name registry service, CentralNic announced on Friday it would be acquiring its Slovakian counterpart, SK-NIC, which manages the national standard .sk domain in the nation.

The purchase is said to be made up of an initial €21.27m with a further €4.85m in future milestone payments.

Set to complete next month, the purchase would be the first step by the London based business into new territories and with SK-NIC confirmed to be on target for the full year, it would provide the firm with a double-digit earning boost in its first full year.

"SK-NIC is a major, earnings enhancing acquisition for Group, which is wholly consistent with our growth strategy. The business will benefit significantly from CentralNic's technology and expertise, to improve its security, resilience and growth, as well as bringing to the Group strong recurring revenues. The .sk country code adds a substantial new product and SK-NIC's network of over 2,100 local retailers extends our geographic footprint into an important new market with considerable growth potential," said CentralNic chief executive, Ben Crawford.

Central Nic also stated its interim reports would be released on 7 September but took time to note that first half revenue was looking to be in the vicinity of £10.59m, a 19% increase on the £8.93 posted at the midway point of 2016.

As of 1025 BST, shares had seen a small 2.84% increase to 67.10p.