The next issue of the rating of the largest domain transactions of the authoritative resource DN Journal will be released next week, but it is already known that it will undergo important changes. They were announced by the compiler of the rating and publisher of the resource, Ron Jackson. He announced the closing of a deal to sell the domain name Room.com for $1.5 million. The sellers were experienced domain investor Michael Castello and famous American radio host Walt “Baby” Love (real name Walter Shaw), who jointly owned the domain. The buyer is Room, a company specializing in office interior design.
The deal was announced 4 years ago, but at that moment the company was just getting on its feet and did not have sufficient funds. Therefore, the deal was concluded on the terms of payments in installments over 5 years. The first payment was $250,000, then the buyer paid $62,500 every three months. Michael Castello admitted that he planned to earn about $4 million for the domain, but was impressed by the desire of a small company to obtain such a premium name and its confidence that the purchase would justify itself. “However, I've always believed in maximizing the potential of great names with deserving companies,” says Castello.
As a result, a few days ago, Room transferred $250,000 to the sellers at once, closing the deal a year ahead of schedule. Its current financial condition made it possible to do this, and there is no doubt that the company's success was greatly facilitated by the use of a successful domain name. According to the DN Journal rating rules, the deal will be included in the next issue, since it is completely closed right now. This puts Room.com in second place on the list of the year's biggest deals, behind only Help.com, which was acquired for $3 million (we are, of course, talking only about deals for which information is publicly available).
