Intuit, the accounting software giant serving millions of small businesses, has entered into an agreement to acquire Docstoc, the Web-based provider of forms, documents and other resources for small businesses. The announcement was made today by Docstoc.
Founded in 2007 and based in Santa Monica, California, Docstoc operates a Web platform containing proprietary and user generated documents, articles and videos to help businesses. In recent years, Docstoc has complemented its documents with tools and services including License123 (business licenses) and ExpertCircle (product recommendations).
Intuit is the company behind successful products like accounting software QuickBooks.
A joint announcement issued by the two companies says the acquisition will help Intuit add products to help solopreneurs, self-employed people and sub-contractors.
DocStoc.com gets the benefit of Intuit’s well-established brand as well as access to greater resources.
“Our vision is to be the ultimate destination and resource site for small businesses. We’re extremely excited to continue to pursue this shared vision with Intuit….” said Jason Nazar, co-founder and CEO at Docstoc.com.
Docstoc says it currently has more than 40 million registered users worldwide, and is one of the 500 most visited websites in the U.S., according to Quancast.
“As we strive to be the operating system behind small business success, we are looking for solutions and teams that best serve small businesses, and Docstoc stood out as a clear leader,” said Alex Chriss, vice president and general manager within Intuit’s small business unit.
The transaction is expected to close before the end of Intuit’s second quarter which comes to a close January 31, 2014.
The exact terms of the purchase have not been disclosed.
Docstoc’s announcement says its 50 employees will continue to work out of its Santa Monica headquarters under Nazar’s leadership.
Aira Bongco
I can just imagine what can happen when an accounting software acquires a document sharing site. While I still cannot think about how they are related. I don’t even know if they will even relate it or just launch it as an independent business.
IMHO, I think businesses tend to acquire others which will give them competitive advantage in the future. I think Intuit will acquire some more to create a holistic offering for their existing customer base – ranging from accounting to, perhaps, small business website building.