Tucows Inc. (NASDAQ:TCX, TSX:TC), a popular provider of domain name registration, network access and other Internet services, has acquired European wholesale domain name registrar Ascio Technologies from CSC® in a transaction that closed Monday (March 18, 2019). According to a press release announcing the deal this morning, 
Tucows will pay $29.44 million and the transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to operating cash flow. The purchase price will be funded through Tucows' existing credit facility.

Tucows, who already operates giant domain resellers OpenSRS and Enom, manages a combined 23 million domain names and millions of value-added services through a global reseller network of over 37,000 web hosts and ISPs. The acquisition of Ascio adds approximately 1.8 million domains under management and approximately 500 active resellers.

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The release notes, " The Ascio reseller base fits squarely with Tucows' core customer profile - ISPs, web hosting companies and website builders serving quality businesses that reward outstanding customer service with long-term loyalty. Ascio also expands Tucows' product portfolio with one of the most complete offerings of country code TLDs (ccTLDs) and generic TLDs (gTLDs) in the world."

Jørgen Christensen, Managing Director of Ascio said, "This deal is all about focus. We wanted to find a buyer who would focus on our resellers so that CSC can focus on managing brands for the biggest and best companies around the world."

Tucows Executive Vice President of Domains David Woroch added,  "This acquisition makes perfect sense for Ascio's resellers, our business and our shareholders. Ascio's resellers get a customer-focused provider that is investing in its wholesale channel. Tucows gets an excellent business with a deeply experienced team, additional domain products, including more than 50 ccTLDs, and a high-quality customer base that strengthens our European presence. And our shareholders get the benefit of Tucows' even greater scale and efficiency as the world's largest wholesale domain registrar."