Intuit, a US-based business and financial technology firm, plans to acquire popular e-mail marketing solutions provider Mailchimp for $12 billion (about R170 billion) in cash and stock advances.
In statement, Intuit says the acquisition will help it accelerate two of its strategic business objectives; namely, becoming the centre of small business growth and disrupting the small business mid-market.
Intuit develops financial tech software such as TurboTax, Mint, Credit Karma, as well as QuickBooks, a small business management tool that offers accounting, payroll, payments and time-tracking tools.
The statement notes Intuit and Mailchimp will work together to deliver on the vision of an end-to-end customer growth platform for small and mid-market businesses, allowing them to get their business online, manage customer relationships, benefit from insights and analytics, cash flow, access capital and pay employees.
It’s also expected that small companies will be able to combine their customer data from the Mailchimp and QuickBooks purchase data to get the actionable insights they need to grow and run their businesses.
“We’re focused on powering prosperity around the world for consumers and small businesses. Together, Mailchimp and QuickBooks will help solve small and mid-market businesses’ biggest barriers to growth: getting and retaining customers,” says Sasan Goodarzi, CEO of Intuit.
“Expanding our platform to be at the centre of small and mid-market business growth helps them overcome their most important financial challenges.”
Founded in 2001 by Ben Chestnut and Dan Kurzius, Mailchimp has a global customer reach of 13 million total users, 2.4 million monthly active users and 800 000 paid customers.
Over the years, the company has evolved into a “leader” in customer engagement and marketing automation fuelled by an artificial intelligence (AI) technology stack.
“Over the past two decades, we’ve vastly expanded and evolved Mailchimp’s platform to help millions of small businesses around the world start and grow,” says Chestnut, CEO and co-founder of Mailchimp.
“With Intuit, we’ve found a shared passion for empowering small businesses. By joining forces with Intuit, we’ll take our offerings to the next level, leveraging Intuit’s AI-driven expert platform to deliver even better products and services to small businesses. This is an exciting new chapter for Mailchimp, our 1 200-plus dedicated employees and customers.”
“Together, Mailchimp and QuickBooks will become a powerful engine for small and mid-market business customers to get, engage and retain their customers, run their businesses, optimise cash flow and remain compliant,” adds Alex Chriss, executive VP and GM of the Intuit Small Business and Self-Employed Group.
“Today, QuickBooks helps more than seven million small and mid-market businesses get paid fast, access capital, pay their employees and grow in an omni-channel world. Mailchimp’s addition will bring speed and velocity to these efforts, with the acceleration of mid-market expansion opportunities and global growth for both brands.”
The transaction is expected to close prior to the end of Intuit’s second quarter fiscal 2022, subject to receipt of required regulatory approvals and satisfaction or waiver of other customary closing conditions.
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