IPv4 Mergers and Acquisitions: Registry Changes
A merger or acquisition can require a resource-registration update even when the network keeps the same prefixes and origin ASN. Establish which legal entity survives, what business assets moved and who may act for the registered holder. The corporate transaction alone does not update the registry.
Classify the event
The same legal entity continues
Check the organization record
A share deal or legal name change can leave the registered holder unchanged. Establish continuity and update the required contacts or control information.
A different entity receives the business
Check corporate succession
For a merger or qualifying asset deal, prove which entity survives, what moved and who may act for the registered holder.
Only an address block changes hands
Check the ordinary transfer route
An agreement for a prefix alone does not establish a merger or acquisition. Ask the registry to apply the appropriate ordinary-transfer process.
Present the facts before choosing the procedure. Subsidiaries with the same parent remain separate legal entities.
Assemble a chain from the holder of record
Start with the registered holder
Use WHOIS/RDAP to record the exact name, entity identifier and prefixes.
Result: The evidence starts at the holder on record.
Prove each corporate change
Keep dated company records, merger or asset-transfer documents and an inventory tying the resources to the acquired network.
Result: Each change has a supporting legal instrument.
Identify the authorized successor
Show the surviving entity and signing authority. Explain dissolution or gaps before a later unrelated transfer.
Result: The registry can assess the complete chain.
An old administrator’s mailbox helps reconstruct history but does not prove authority to sign.
Apply the correct regional procedure
| Registry | Important distinction |
|---|---|
| ARIN | ARIN requires acquisition of the registered entity or qualifying assets using the resources; no needs-based assessment during that transfer, but a registration services agreement and other conditions apply |
| RIPE NCC | Official evidence supports the corporate-change request; receipt through M&A can start a 24-month ordinary-transfer restriction, with an exception for further genuine M&A |
| APNIC | Corporate-event procedures do not remove the five-year restriction for final-pool 103/8 delegations |
| LACNIC | LACNIC requires evidence of the corporate change and justification for retaining the addresses; ARIN’s needs-assessment exception does not apply |
| AFRINIC | Use the registry’s corporate-change guidance; the ordinary transfer policy separately excepts M&A from its prior-receipt restriction |
Checked 8 November 2026. See ARIN’s merger and acquisition transfer requirements for its qualifying transaction criteria and RIPE corporate-change requirements for the evidence expected there.
Preserve access while the record changes
Keep recovery available
Inventory registry accounts, maintainers and recovery paths before disabling the acquired company’s access.
Assign routing and DNS control
Name authorized staff responsible for resource certificates, route authorizations, routing-registry objects and reverse DNS.
Verify both handovers
Use post-transfer checks for the new registration and network configuration. Unchanged engineers do not make either check unnecessary.
Verify the final registration
Save the registry’s completion notice and check the surviving entity, prefixes, contacts and agreements. Update IPAM’s legal-holder field without overwriting useful allocation history.
If the acquired resources will later be offered for IPv4 divestment, establish that later transaction’s eligibility separately. Corporate approval of the first event does not waive a subsequent holding period. For older resources, also resolve legacy status and services.