Constant Contact Acquired

Online marketing firm Constant Contact, widely known for its email newsletter products, is to be acquired by small business online marketing firm Endurance International Group. Both companies are based in Massachusetts, USA.

Endurance says the buy gives it 'a full suite of online marketing tools and end-to-end solutions' to offer small businesses, and will bring immediate financial benefit - estimated fiscal 2015 adjusted revenue for the combined company will be around $1.1bn, and adjusted EBITDA c.$350m, while the combined subscriber base will top five million, the firm says.

The price of $32.00 cash per share values Constant Contact at around $1.1bn, and is a premium of c.23% over the October 30th closing price of $26.10. Both companies' boards have approved the transaction.

In addition to email marketing, Constant Contact offers events management, social media integration and contact management systems. Its own acquisitions have included loyalty platform CardStar and local business information provider SinglePlatform, both in 2012.

Endurance President and CEO Hari Ravichandran comments: 'We have long admired Constant Contact and its strong management team... Their focus on the customer and product development complements our offerings for small business services, and expands our ability to address the needs of SMBs. We know that once small businesses have a web presence, they look for other products and services that will help them to grow their business. We see an opportunity to help our growing subscriber base meet their goals through an integrated suite of solutions'.

Constant Contact CEO Gail Goodman (pictured) says the move will allow her team to 'extend our reach and be a better partner to small businesses across the globe'.

The transaction is expected to close during the first quarter of 2016, and should be financed with fully committed debt financing of $1.085 bn, paid entirely in cash to Constant Contact shareholders. Competitor firm Exact Target was acquired by Salesforce in 2013.

Web sites: www.endurance.com and www.constantcontact.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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