Siris Capital unit to buy Web.com for $2 billion

(Reuters) - Web.com Group Inc, a provider of internet domain name registration services, said on Thursday an affiliate of private equity firm Siris Capital would buy the company for about $2 billion in cash.

Shares of the company, which also helps businesses build websites, rose 8 percent in premarket trading, matching the offer price of $25 per share.

The deal comes as the sector becomes increasingly crowded, with companies such as Wix.com Ltd, Weebly Inc and Squarespace seeking to gain market share from established players such as GoDaddy Inc.

Jacksonville, Florida-based Web.com will be open to other offers during a "go-shop" period until Aug. 5, the company said.

The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2018.

Morgan Stanley & Co LLC, RBC Capital Markets and Macquarie Capital are Siris's financial advisers, while Sidley Austin LLP is its corporate counsel and Kirkland & Ellis LLP its financing counsel.

BofA Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan are serving as financial advisers to Web.com and Cooley LLP is its legal counsel.

(Reporting by Munsif Vengattil in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Anil D'Silva)

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