Go Daddy maneuvers toward initial public offering

The Go Daddy Group, the Internet registrar best known for cheeky, controversial ads, is moving full speed ahead with plans for an initial public offering.

The company has hired Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase to coordinate a stock sale that could take place later this year. It isn’t clear yet how much money Go Daddy plans to raise in an IPO or how much stock its owners, including the investment firms Silver Lake and Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, plan to sell. The private equity shops, along with Technology Crossover Ventures, bought the Internet company for $2.25 billion nearly three years ago.

Since its leveraged buyout, the domain name registrar — the biggest in the world — has moved away from its image as a rabble-rouser best known for featuring scantily clad spokes?women in its commercials. Under Blake Irving, a former Yahoo executive who took over as chief executive in 2012, the company has refocused on expanding its work with businesses. 

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