MoFo Advises Ethos Capital in Majority Control Acquisition of Donuts, Inc.

Morrison & Foerster advised private equity firm Ethos Capital, LLC (“Ethos Capital”) in its acquisition of a controlling interest in Donuts Inc. (“Donuts”), a global leader in next-generation top-level domains (“TLDs”) and digital identity, from private equity firm Abry Partners. Based in Seattle, Donuts holds the world’s largest portfolio of TLDs and offers individuals and organizations new ways to promote and enhance their true digital identities.

Ethos Capital is a private equity firm established in 2019 to make majority and control minority investments in middle-market companies primarily across North America and Europe. Ethos Capital’s initial investment in Donuts in 2020 facilitated the acquisition of Afilias, Inc., a leading TLD registry operator and provider, a transaction Morrison & Foerster also advised Ethos Capital on. The Ethos Capital investment group now controls the Donuts Board of Directors and will provide a strong shareholder base to support the company’s future growth.

The MoFo deal team was led by Boston corporate partner Todd Boudreau, with support from Boston corporate of counsel Kevin Madden and associate Mike Maroni, Washington, D.C. corporate associate Mary Katherine Rawls, and Palo Alto corporate associate Emiko Kurotsu. The wider team included New York Executive Compensation partner Domnick Bozzetti and San Francisco associate Yuan Xia, Washington, D.C. Antitrust partner Vishal Mehta and associate Eric Olson, New York Private Funds partner Leonora Shalet, Boston Technology Transactions partner Matt Karlyn, Boston Privacy + Data Security partner Julie O’Neill and New York associate Taj Moore, San Francisco Finance partner Dario Avram, New York Tax partner Anthony Carbone and associate Katherine Erbeznik, and corporate associates Jill Tellioglu (San Francisco), Dylan Naughton and Don Lee (New York), and Caroline Sir (Palo Alto).

Read more about the transaction in Ethos Capital’s press release.