Decius wrote:
] Jeremy wrote:
]] I don't think Pivotal is necessarily "confused" about
]] the value of Verisign.
]
] Then I think you are confused about the value of NetSol.
] Would YOU bet millions on that?

I don't think Pivotal plans/expects to recoup its investment right away. They seem to be thinking on a "decades" scale, not a "months" scale.

As a spam vehicle alone, NetSol could be worth a considerable sum. Consider the number of customers with which NetSol has an existing business relationship, and consider that they have contact information for all of them. Here's a plan. Send out 25 million emails offering a deal on a TiVo in conjunction with domain registration or renewal. Work out an exclusive arrangement with TiVo where each annual domain renewal also includes a TiVo subscription for that year. Any number of similar deals could be worked; magazine subscriptions and NetFlix come to mind. There could be a whole library of "perks" to choose from when you renew each year.

A liquidation strategy could also recover the costs. I could see a consortium of other registrars convincing Pivotal to pay $100M for NetSol. Competing registrars would then pay Pivotal a few dollars (say $4) to have each domain (of ~25M in all) transferred to a member of the consortium. These transfers would involve no out-of-pocket costs for customers. Members of the consortium could compete via electronic auction for each domain transfer.

RE: Pivotal Private Equity to Acquire World's Largest Domain Name Registrar, Network Solutions