Afilias, a leading domain registry operator, announced today that it has formally established a new corporate parent entity, Afilias, Inc. of Delaware, USA. Afilias plc of Ireland is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Afilias, Inc. Afilias further announced the relocation of its global corporate headquarters to Horsham, PA, the current offices of its operating subsidiary Afilias USA, Inc.

“We’ve long had a strong US presence,” said CEO Hal Lubsen. “More of the company’s shares are now owned by Americans, and our executive group is increasingly becoming American. However,” he added, “nothing really changes for our customers and our vendors. Afilias continues to be a global registry services provider; our operations will not be affected.”

Afilias established its initial corporate headquarters in Dublin in early 2001, primarily because of the anticipated appeal of .INFO (its first product) in Europe, the makeup of Afilias’ initial owner and leader groups, and other financial considerations. Since then, the company has grown into a global domain services leader, all the while maintaining a complementary presence in the US.

Fast-forward to today, and currently, Afilias’ two largest customers, Public Interest Registry (the .ORG registry operator) and GoDaddy (the world’s largest domain name registrar), have US headquarters. These trends, coupled with recent favorable US tax changes, make Afilias’ US presence important in maximizing its future growth.

Aside from the legal and HQ designation, very few changes are expected from the establishment of Afilias Inc. As Afilias’ US market heats up, the company anticipates increased hiring and investment in the US. Otherwise, no new paperwork or other changes will be requested of customers; all our offices worldwide will continue to operate as they have in the past; and pre-existing staff arrangements will not change.