GoDaddy Board Sued Over $850 Million Buyout of Up-C Tax Benefits

A GoDaddy Inc. investor sued its board in Delaware, challenging the company’s $850 million buyout of tax benefits held by its founder and private equity firms like KKR & Co. that invested before the web hosting business went public as an “up-C” corporation.

The lawsuit, filed by a pension fund, targets members of the GoDaddy board and chief financial officer Raymond E. Winborne. It accuses them of running a “sham process” aimed at drastically overpaying for the rights to “tax receivable agreements” held by KKR, GoDaddy founder Robert R. Parsons, Silver Lake Partners, Technology Crossover Ventures, and other early investors. ...