Is Namecheap, Inc. owned by private equity?

Notes

• Namecheap’s own About page states the company began in 2000 and identifies Richard Kirkendall as founder, and lists Hillan Klein as CEO (useful for identity confirmation, not beneficial ownership).
• Morocco’s competition authority non-confidential transaction summary describes a proposed concentration: Domain Bidco, Inc. acquiring exclusive control of Namecheap, Inc.; it also states Domain Bidco is a Delaware company (file no. 10312454) and an investment vehicle owned/financed by CVC funds, and identifies Namecheap, Inc. as a Delaware corporation (file no. 4077265) with an address in Phoenix, Arizona.
• Cyprus competition authority notice (last modified July 22, 2026) describes a notification of concentration for the acquisition of Namecheap, Inc. share capital by Domain Bidco, Inc.; it describes Domain Bidco as indirectly controlled by funds/companies advised or managed by enterprises linked with CVC Capital Partners plc, but does not explicitly state closing.
• State-registry escalation: The Delaware Division of Corporations public search tool is the official lookup for Delaware entities, but detailed filings/ownership are generally not freely disclosed beyond basic entity details without paid documents; the Morocco/Cyprus competition materials already provide Delaware file numbers for both Domain Bidco and Namecheap.
• State-registry escalation: Arizona’s Corporation Commission/Arizona Business Center is the official Arizona business registry for foreign registrations and local filings; however, the public portal uses anti-automation controls (CAPTCHA/interactive rendering), and I could not reliably extract a full entity card to link an Arizona foreign registration record to a parent/owner chain within this run.
• Morocco’s competition authority published a non-confidential summary describing a transaction where Domain Bidco, Inc. would acquire exclusive control of Namecheap, and states Domain Bidco is an investment vehicle owned and financed by CVC funds.
• Cyprus competition authority notice (last modified July 22, 2026) similarly describes the acquisition of Namecheap by Domain Bidco, a vehicle indirectly controlled by CVC-linked funds/managers, but it is framed as a notification rather than an explicit closing confirmation.
• Business/news and industry sources reported CVC nearing/agreeing to acquire a majority stake around September 2025; however, an official closing announcement from Namecheap or CVC was not identified in the sources reviewed.
• Namecheap’s official About page confirms the company began in 2000 and identifies Richard Kirkendall as founder.
• A Phoenix, Arizona address for Namecheap, Inc. is provided in the Morocco competition authority summary.