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Corporation Service Company

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CSC®
TypePrivate
IndustryRegistered agent, corporate governance, corporate compliance, domain name and intellectual property management
FoundedJanuary 1, 1899; 127 years ago (January 1, 1899)
HeadquartersWilmington, Delaware, U.S.
Products
Number of employees
2,500+[1]
ParentWMB Holdings, Inc.
Websitecscglobal.com

CSC is a US company founded on January 1, 1899, that provides corporate, legal, and tax services. It is headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware, and has offices in the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region. It specializes in business formation, corporate domain management, and providing corporate tax software. As of 2022, CSC is the largest corporate domain registrar in the world.[2]

History

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Corporation Service Company (CSC) was founded in 1899 by Otho Nowland, then president of Equitable Guarantee & Trust Company, and Christopher L. Ward. With an initial investment by Nowland, Ward, and another friend, Willard Jackson, The Delaware Incorporators’ Trust Company was created.[3] A similar company was formed separately by Josiah P. Marvel, an attorney and then-leader of the American Bar Association, The Delaware Bar Association, and the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce.[4]

In 1920, Ward and Marvel combined their two companies under the name Corporation Service Company. Throughout the 1970s, CSC continued to serve only Delaware business entities. WMB Holdings is the parent company of CSC.[5]

CSC's Corporate Domains business provides services to Apple Inc., Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com, Twitter, Starbucks, Lego, Sony Group Corporation, The Walt Disney Company, Ford Motor Company, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, Toyota Motor Corporation, Vodafone Group Plc, among others.[citation needed]

CSC received a cash infusion from the sale of its subsidiary company, the Delaware Charter Guarantee & Trust Company, which it had acquired in 1977. During the September 11 attacks, the company had offices on the 87th floor of the World Trade Center's South Tower. All 60 employees present at the time of the attacks managed to evacuate the tower before the second plane struck.[6] In 2017, CSC opened its new headquarters[7] in Wilmington, Delaware and rebranded[8] from "Corporation Service Company" to "CSC."

Leadership

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Bruce R. Winn began serving as CSC’s president in 1997 and its chief executive officer in 1998. In 2010, CSC announced the election of Rodman Ward III as its president and chief executive officer. Ward previously served as a board member for 15 years and is a fourth-generation descendant of one of the company’s founders, Christopher Ward. Ward also sits on the Delaware Prosperity Partnership.[9]

Acquisitions

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In 1990, CSC acquired Florida-based Corporate Information Services. Between 1989 and 1998, CSC expanded through the acquisitions of nine other service providers, including Prentice Hall Legal & Financial Services in 1995, and Entity Service Group, LLC in 1998.[10]

In 2003, CSC acquired LexisNexis Document Solutions[11] to supplement its Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), secured lending, and motor vehicle services. Between 2005 and 2007, CSC acquired eBrandSecure, the corporate services division of Register.com, and NameProtect.[12] In 2011, CSC acquired MLM Information Services, a tax management services provider. In 2012, CSC purchased Ingeo Systems, Inc., a provider of electronic real estate document recording (eRecording) services.[13][better source needed]

In 2013, CSC acquired the corporate domain name and online brand services division of Melbourne IT. The unit operates under a new name, CSC Digital Brand Services, and offers domain name management, trademark searching, phishing protection, SSL certificates, DNS services, and gTLD services.[14][15]

In 2014, CSC announced that it had acquired IP Mirror, a Singapore-based provider of corporate domain name registration and online brand protection services.[16] The acquisition of IP Mirror grew CSC Digital Brand Services’ ability to provide service in the Asia-Pacific region.

CSC acquired several companies in 2015, including Koehler Group.[17] Koehler Group is a Hong Kong-headquartered provider of incorporation, tax, accounting, and trade support services. CSC currently has offices located throughout North America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region.

CSC also made acquisitions in 2016, including London-based online brand protection provider NetNames.[18] This acquisition included Ascio Technologies, which was later sold to Tucows in 2019.[19]

In March 2022, CSC offered to buy Dutch-based rival Intertrust Group for $2 billion.[20] The acquisition completed in November that year.[21]

References

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  1. ↑ "Careers | CSC".
  2. ↑ "Fitch Assigns First-Time 'BB' IDR to Corporation Service Company; Outlook Stable". www.fitchratings.com. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
  3. ↑ George, Pam (2016). Incorporating a Legacy: The CSC Story, Rehoboth, Delaware: Portfolio Books
  4. ↑ "How Delaware Became No. 1 (Published 1976)". 1976-05-09. Retrieved 2025-08-07.
  5. ↑ "Sustaining the Family Business Legacy" (PDF).
  6. ↑ Moore, Martha (September 2, 2002). "Delay meant death on 9/11". USA Today. usatoday.com. Retrieved 2010-06-01.
  7. ↑ "CSC Opens New Headquarters" (Press release). 27 June 2017.
  8. ↑ "Corporation Services rebrands to CSC". Delaware Business Now. 2017-05-22. Retrieved 2025-08-07.
  9. ↑ "Board of Directors". Business in Delaware | Delaware Prosperity Partnership. Retrieved 2023-07-10.
  10. ↑ "Incorporated In Delaware: Firm Thrives On The Work CSC Networks Has Been So Successful That It Has Been Able To Expand" (Press release).
  11. ↑ "LexisNexis selling Illinois unit". www.bizjournals.com. Dayton Business Journal. Retrieved 19 June 2014.
  12. ↑ "About Us". Archived from the original on 2026-06-01. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  13. ↑ "Electronic Document Recording Corporate Profile".
  14. ↑ "CSC acquires DBS from Melbourne IT".
  15. ↑ Coyne, Allie (2013-05-12). "Melbourne IT sells digital division". iTnews. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  16. ↑ "CSC Digital Brand Services acquires IP Mirror". Yahoo Finance. Archived from the original on 2015-02-09. Retrieved 2025-08-07.
  17. ↑ "Corporation Service Company Acquires Koehler Group". Archived from the original on 2016-10-26. Retrieved 2025-08-07.
  18. ↑ Hall, Kat (2 August 2016). "Domain name bods NetNames netted by CSC Global". The Register. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
  19. ↑ "Tucows Inc. Acquires Wholesale Domain Registrar Ascio Technologies". Tucows. 2019-03-19. Retrieved 2026-07-07.
  20. ↑ Sterling, Toby (30 March 2022). "CSC formally launches $2 billion offer for trust office manager Intertrust". Reuters. Retrieved August 7, 2025.
  21. ↑ Owens, Jacob (9 November 2022). "CSC closes $2B Intertrust acquisition". Delaware Business Times.
* How Delaware Became No. 1
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