NEEDHAM, Mass.--()--Hilco Streambank has recently been retained by a major U.S. corporation to sell its rights to an entire “legacy” /8 block of 16.7 million IPv4 addresses. Hilco was also recently retained through the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware to sell a /16 block of more than 65,000 addresses for Chapter 11 debtor RG Steel.
These new additions have bolstered Hilco’s inventory of available IPv4 addresses, thought to be the largest portfolio currently being marketed in the world. A process has begun to market IPv4 blocks to potential buyers, globally.
Concurrently, regional internet registries (“RIR”) around the world continue to approach the point of IPv4 supply exhaustion. In the last few weeks Europe and North America have reached milestones bringing them closer to full IPv4 depletion. The European Internet Registry (“RIPE NCC”), announced that it was down to its last /8 block of IPv4 addresses, and last week the North American Internet Registry (“ARIN”) announced that it has entered phase 2 of its “IPv4 Countdown Plan,” which was triggered when their IPv4 inventory decreased to a level below three /8 blocks. The Asia-Pacific Registry (“APNIC’) was the first registry to exhaust its supply, reaching their last /8 block in April 2011.
The supply crisis in each RIR has led to recent policy changes with respect to transferring IPv4 addresses. ARIN has recently approved transfers between North American organizations and those located in APNIC’s Asia Pacific region. RIPE NCC is expected to follow suit shortly. The depleted supply in the APNIC and RIPE regions has generated significant interest in Hilco Streambank’s IPv4 supply. As such, APNIC and ARIN have set up internal services to accommodate transfers of resources. Hilco Streambank has been listed as a Registered Broker by APNIC. Hilco is already listed as a Facilitator by ARIN.
In a recent transaction, Hilco Streambank sold a block of IP addresses in the Borders bankruptcy for $12 per address, the highest price ever reported per address. In addition to the Borders transaction, Hilco has completed numerous sales in North America as well as in the other RIR regions. Hilco currently represents more than 12 sellers of surplus IPv4 address blocks offering blocks ranging from /24 (256 addresses) to the newly-assigned /8 (16.7 million addresses).
“The transition to IPv6 is proving to be slower than expected and as a result we see increased demand for IPv4 assets in the near term,” said Gabe Fried, CEO of Hilco Streambank. He added, “Pricing is expected to increase in the near term as large consumers of IPv4 addresses utilize their existing allocations and reach a point at which acquisition of new addresses is more economically attractive. We continue to work closely with all buy-side and sell-side participants, as well as the Regional Internet Registries, to create and manage a fair and orderly IPv4 marketplace. Our transaction history and our available inventory represent a very strong endorsement from the marketplace regarding our ability to get deals done.”
About Hilco Streambank - www.hilcostreambank.com
Hilco Streambank is an advisory firm specializing in the marketing, sale and valuation of intangible assets for businesses at all stages. Hilco Streambank identifies, preserves, and extracts value for clients through the application of experience, diligence and creativity. Additionally, Hilco Streambank provides intangible asset valuation services in a variety of contexts, including compliance and reporting, lending and for the resolution of value disputes. Hilco Streambank also provides advisory services on intangible asset value maximization strategies and liquidity-generating options. Headquartered in Needham, MA with offices in New York, NY and Chicago, IL, Hilco Streambank is a unit of Hilco Trading, LLC.