Gen Digital has submitted a preliminary acquisition proposal for GoDaddy, according to the Financial Times, sending GoDaddy shares up as much as 11% before a temporary volatility halt and pushing Gen Digital down about 8%. The discussions began within the past few weeks and may not result in a transaction; both companies declined to comment. GoDaddy manages approximately 81 million registered domains, nearly 20% of the global total, and serves more than 20 million small businesses, creators and startup founders. Gen Digital, whose brands include Norton 360, LifeLock, CCleaner and ReputationDefender, could use GoDaddy’s customer base to cross-sell cybersecurity and identity-theft protection. Gen Digital has a market capitalization of approximately $15.7 billion, while GoDaddy’s is near $12.2 billion. The new report did not disclose pricing or transaction terms, conflicting with an earlier report in the existing topic that described a roughly $12 billion offer. The potential approach comes as GoDaddy faces pressure from AI website-building competition, although Oppenheimer analyst Ken Wong remains positive on its Airo platform. Wix.com shares also rose more than 2%, suggesting investors are considering broader industry consolidation.