Gen Digital, the Tempe-based cybersecurity company behind Norton, Avast and LifeLock, has made a preliminary approach to acquire fellow Tempe company GoDaddy in a potential deal valued at $11.8 billion. The approach, first reported in recent weeks, would combine two of the Valley's largest public software companies into a single business spanning website hosting, domain registration, payments and consumer cybersecurity.
According to the Phoenix Business Journal, Gen Digital made its first acquisition offer for GoDaddy in recent weeks, though discussions between the two companies remain in the early stages with no guaranteed deal. The $11.8 billion figure comes from a separate report by bizjournals.com, even as other accounts of the talks note that financial terms and deal structure have not been disclosed. The Financial Times reported that Gen Digital made a preliminary offer for GoDaddy in recent weeks, according to Yahoo Finance, which added that no offer structure, signed agreement, board recommendation or timeline had been disclosed.
GoDaddy manages 81 million website domains and provides domain registration, website hosting, website-building tools and payments services primarily to small businesses and individual customers, per the same Yahoo Finance report. A combination would bring those businesses together with Gen Digital's Norton, Avast and LifeLock cybersecurity portfolio, and would give Gen Digital access to GoDaddy's base of 20 million small business customers, the Phoenix Business Journal reports.
Markets Swing Hard in Opposite Directions
Wall Street's reaction was immediate and lopsided. GoDaddy shares spiked as much as 11% after news of the approach broke, while Gen Digital's stock slid nearly 8% at the time of publication, the same Yahoo Finance account notes. Elsewhere, shares of Gen Digital fell 12.05% to $23.07 while GoDaddy rose 4.64% to $100.85 following the takeover report, per the earlier Yahoo Finance article covering the reaction.
Both companies have so far declined to comment on the reported approach. Gen Digital CEO Vincent Pilette told analysts he could not comment on the rumors when asked directly, according to Investing.com. Pilette did lay out the criteria Gen Digital uses to weigh any acquisition — strategic fit, price, efficiency creation, accretion, and value relative to share buybacks — while stressing the importance of maintaining a strong balance sheet, the outlet reported.
A Track Record of Deal-Making
This wouldn't be Gen Digital's first major purchase. The company, formed through the merger of NortonLifeLock and Avast according to Gurufocus, acquired MoneyLion in a $1 billion deal in 2025. Pilette pointed to Avast and MoneyLion as successful past acquisitions, per the same Investing.com report, adding that the MoneyLion deal is on track to deliver more than a 30% return on invested capital in its second year.
Not everyone expects history to repeat itself with GoDaddy, however. RBC analyst Matthew Hedberg said Gen Digital is unlikely to pursue the previously rumored acquisition, according to Gurufocus, which reported that Gen Digital appeared to be prioritizing share repurchases and organic growth instead of a large-scale acquisition. Gen Digital has also raised its fiscal 2027 revenue growth guidance to 9%-11%, Investing.com noted, suggesting the company sees plenty of room to grow on its own.
GoDaddy's Own Momentum
Whatever happens with Gen Digital's approach, GoDaddy has been posting strong numbers independently. The company raised its full-year 2025 revenue expectations to a range of $4.930 billion to $4.950 billion, representing 8% year-over-year growth at the midpoint compared with $4.573 billion in 2024, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. GoDaddy has also guided full-year free cash flow to about $1.8 billion against a normalized EBITDA margin above 33%, the earlier Yahoo Finance report states, while its Airo platform reached a $50 million annualized bookings run rate, up five times quarter over quarter.
For now, the fate of any combination between the two Tempe-based companies remains uncertain. Discussions between Gen Digital and GoDaddy are still described as early-stage, with no guarantee the approach will ultimately lead to a transaction.
