To SnapNames Customers:
I'm writing to inform you that SnapNames has agreed to be acquired by Oversee.net. Oversee, a company already familiar to many in the domain name industry, is a technology-driven online marketing solutions company that offers an impressive array of services to domain name owners. You can learn more about the company at www.oversee.net.
It's important that you understand there will be no changes to the way SnapNames provides its services. This is a combination of two industry leaders with outstanding reputations for serving domain name investors and customers at all levels.
We were attracted to Oversee for many reasons, including the opportunity to offer SnapNames customers a greater breadth of service offerings. Together, the two companies can provide services that support our customers' needs throughout the entire life cycle of a domain name, including procurement, monetization and sales.
This transaction is expected to close in mid-June. There is more information available on our Web site at www.snapnames.com.
More info to be found at:
[snapnames.com...]
The bidding at SnapNames has gone a bit over the top during the past year, with some very successful and well informed domainers choosing to drive up the prices at auction. (Feathering their own bed by feeding the perception of value? I don't think so.)
Does this suggest that Oversee might take a more self-interested role in acquiring domains "on the drop"? I somewhat recall - perhaps incorrectly - a time when (at least by appearance) certain domains did not appear to drop but instead, on expiration, went directly to certain domainers whom I assumed had arrangements to bid privately (before the NetSol/SnapNames deal).
M&A is always about someone thinking they can increase their bottom line. Since this is an acquisition Oversee must see a net gain for the investment. So what, exactly, is the revenue gain? Auctions?
Is this Oversee versus Sedo?
It's looking like we may have a Sedo clone on our hands? (Or am I looking at this in a really wrong way)?
Sedo, which started out in the domain auction space, came to the parking game when it realized it could monetize all the domains that were residing in its auction system, much the same as Afternic.
Oversee, on the other hand, was been in the parking game from the outset and now has made the strategic move of entering the auction game. Oversee has always(?) offered its clients the option of having an "Inquire about this domain" link on its landers but that's not the same as an active auction system.
What I find interesting is that Oversee may now play in the auction space as a competitor where one hand pays the other. I'm not sure how that will work out but all manner of promises of transparency and fair play have been made in the initial announcement.
