Intuit Buys Demandforce for $423.5 Million
Intuit, the maker of tax preparation software TurboTax, announced Friday that it has acquired SaaS company Demandforce for $423.5 million in cash. The acquisition—Intuit's largest ever—is expected to close in May.
"Demandforce sits at the sweet spot of Intuit's SMB customer base and is consistent with our goal to help our customers save time and make money," said Kiran Patel, executive vice president and general manager of Intuit's Small Business Group, in a statement.
Founded in 2003 and based in San Francisco, Calif., Demandforce offers cloud-based Internet marketing and communications tools that are targeted at small businesses across service verticals such as automotive repair, dental care, chiropractors, real estate, spas, salons, and more. Demandforce boasts 35,000 small business clients in the United States and Canada.
Demandforce generated $15.3 million in revenue in 2010, up from $6.4 million in 2009, according to Inc.com's annual survey of the fastest-growing companies. Mountain View, Calif.,-based Intuit was founded in 1983 and has an annual revenue of about $4 billion and a market valuation of $17 billion.
The Demandforce acquisition complements Intuit's QuickBooks software and enhances its offerings for SMBs. Intuit already offers a marketing management product called QuickBase.
Once the transaction is complete, Demandforce will become a division in Intuit's Small Business Group.