In the tech world, companies change hands constantly — it’s hard to keep up!
I’m proud to say that my first company, WordStream, was on the list of tech acquisitions in 2018.
After growing it into a full-fledged unicorn, I sold WordStream to Gannett for $150 million (here’s the exact story of how I built and sold that business).
WordStream was one of many tech companies acquired in 2018.
Tech Acquisitions 2018
Read on to discover ten acquisitions that made major headlines this year.
1. Gannett Acquired WordStream
The largest newspaper publisher in the U.S., Gannett Company, acquired my cloud-based SaaS marketing company WordStream for $150 million in July 2018.
WordStream helps businesses of all sizes manage ad spend and maximize their online advertising budget on platforms including Google Ads, Bing, and Facebook.
The company manages approximately one billion dollars in advertising spend for tens of thousands of companies across the world.
This acquisition will empower Gannett to further pursue their digital transformation with data-driven marketing.
WordStream is estimated to generate $55 million in revenue and $16 million in earnings this year.
2. IBM Acquired Red Hat
IT mainstay IBM acquired Red Hat for around $34 billion, making it the biggest business deal involving an open source company yet.
The North Carolina-based company is known for providing open source enterprise software to companies, with Red Hat Enterprise Linux as their main product.
Red Hat is poised to be the first Linux (and open source) company to break the billion-dollar-per-quarter ceiling, especially now with its acquisition by IBM.
3. Oracle Acquired Datafox
The computer technology corporation Oracle bought up Datafox, a startup whose mission is to eliminate grunt work for business professionals.
Most of Datafox’s work is on making artificial intelligence analyze business data to come up with big business predictions that can make a difference.
According to PitchBook, Datafox was valued at $33 million in January 2017.
4. Twilio Acquired Sendgrid
San Francisco-based cloud communications company Twilio took in SendGrid, a nine-year-old email delivery service company, for $2 billion in stock.
SendGrid was founded by three developers who were seeking a better way for other developers and businesses to send email.
Twilio hopes to integrate SendGrid with their own cloud communications platform to create an all-in-one platform for business growth.
5. Adobe Acquired Marketo
Multimedia software giant Adobe acquired cloud B2B marketing software company Marketo for $4.75 billion.
Adobe has been working on its own cloud solution suite, the Adobe Experience Cloud, for quite some time now, and adding Marketo to that mix may help improve it.
Adobe Experience Cloud’s features combined with Marketo’s lead management and marketing technology from the B2B world can potentially do wonders.
6. Cisco Acquired Duo Security
Cisco, one of the biggest names in computer networking, acquired Michigan-based cybersecurity company Duo Security for $2.35 billion.
Duo is known for unified access security and multi-factor authentication in the cloud.
The acquisition is said to be about bolstering Cisco’s intent-based networking strategy by extending it into multi-cloud environments.
7. AT&T Acquired AlienVault
Telecommunication giant AT&T bought San Mateo-based cybersecurity company AlienVault for an as-of-yet undisclosed amount to launch its own standalone cybersecurity business unit.
Since 2007, AlienVault has developed various tools and platforms like its Unified Security Management and Open Threat Exchange for detecting and addressing security threats.
Being one of the biggest telecommunication companies in the world, AT&T can always use help in boosting its own security.
8. Siemens Acquired Mendix
German conglomerate Siemens bought cloud company Mendix for $730 million to accelerate their research and development.
Mendix developed its low-code software platform to provide tools for building, testing, deploying, and iterating applications.
Siemens is looking to use this platform to create more products more seamlessly, among other things.
9. DocuSign Acquired SpringCM
The San Francisco-based DocuSign acquired Chicago-based cloud company SpringCM for $220 million in cash.
DocuSign is known for providing secure solutions for electronic exchanges of contracts and signed documents.
By bringing SpringCM under its wing, DocuSign plans to modernize its Systems of Agreement.
10. Salesforce Acquired Datorama
Last but not least in our list of 2018 tech acquisitions is Salesforce. Salesforce acquired Israel-based cloud artificial intelligence company Datorama for more than $800 million.
Datorama uses AI and the cloud for marketing intelligence and analytics to help businesses improve how they propagate their brands.
This acquisition is a good fit for Salesforce, combining their sales and marketing software with the power of the Marketing Cloud.
Republished by permission. Original here.
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