Briefcase

Go Daddy Group sells for $2.25 billion

SAN FRANCISCO – The parent company of GoDaddy.com, a top registrar of Internet domain names, has been sold to a group of private investment firms for $2.25 billion, a person familiar with the transaction told the Associated Press.

Go Daddy Group Inc.’s sale to KKR, Silver Lake and Technology Crossover Ventures comes as the company expects to top $1.1 billion in revenue this year because expanding Internet use has fueled the creation of more websites and the “domains” needed to help find them. Go Daddy announced the sale late Friday.

Associated Press

Manufacturing index sees June rebound

NEW YORK – Factory activity picked up in June after a sluggish May, helped by lower gas prices and some easing of supply disruptions.

The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing executives, said Friday that its index of manufacturing activity rose to 55.3. The sector has now grown for 23 straight months. Last month’s growth was the slowest in 20 months.

A reading above 50 indicates that the manufacturing sector is expanding.

Associated Press

Game maker Zynga plans stock offering

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Zynga Inc., the San Francisco startup behind “FarmVille,” “CityVille” and other social games for Facebook and other platforms, has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for an initial public offering of its stock.

According to the filing, Zynga is seeking to sell as much as $1 billion worth of shares.

“Zynga is a company with more than 2,000 amazingly talented employees dedicated to engaging, surprising and delighting an audience that has grown to 148 million monthly unique users in 166 countries,” CEO Mark Pincus wrote in a letter to potential shareholders.

McClatchy

Opening bid set for bankrupt Borders

DETROIT – Direct Brands plans a $215 million opening bid for Borders Group, the nation’s second-largest bookseller, in a bankruptcy court auction.

Once sold, likely later this month, the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based bookseller will morph into something different, said turnaround expert Jim McTevia of Bingham Farms, Mich.-based McTevia & Associates.

“An equity firm has to do this and dump all the assets they don’t want. What is left is probably going to be a viable operating company, but not anywhere near what it is today,” McTevia said.

Detroit Free Press