Web hosting firm GoDaddy valued at $4.5bn in IPO

US-based web hosting company GoDaddy is expected to start trading on the New York Stock Exchange on 1 April, after its initial public offering (IPO) that valued the company at $4.5bn (£3bn, €4.2bn), including debt, Reuters reported.

The company would raise $440m from the IPO, as it priced shares at $20 apiece above the previously indicated $17 to $19 per share range. It expects to sell 22 million shares.

Shares in GoDaddy are expected to be listed on the NYSE under the ticker symbol 'GDDY'.

Arizona-based GoDaddy was founded in 1997 as Jomax Technologies before changing its name. GoDaddy claims that it is the world's largest domain name registrar with 59 million domains under management and 13 million customers.

The company employs more than 4,000 employees at its 14 locations around the globe.

Having achieved strong growth as small businesses increasingly went online, GoDaddy first filed to go public in 2006, but later stalled the plan. It submitted a new IPO plan in 2014.

The company was acquired by private-equity firms KKR & Co, Silver Lake Partners and Technology Crossover Ventures in 2011.

In 2014, GoDaddy generated $1.4bn in total bookings, up from $753m in 2009. Despite its high revenue growth, the company is yet to make a profit. It recorded a net loss of $143.43m in 2014. It also had debt of $1.5bn as of 31 December 2014.