LinkedIn continues what is turning into a string of purchases with the announcement it will acquire B2B marketing company Bizo for a cool $175 million.
Bizo sells B2B marketing tools including targeted display advertising, social advertising, retargeting, multi-channel tools and analytics that transparently measure display and social advertising performance.
A Perfect Fit
Bizo CEO Russell Glass says he sees the deal as a perfect fit for both companies. On the official Bizo Blog, Glass explains:
“LinkedIn’s mission is to connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful, while Bizo’s is to help B2B marketers get to the right people. We realized that our respective missions are incredibly well aligned, and we believe that combining forces will accelerate our ability to execute against the huge opportunities ahead. The combination of LinkedIn and Bizo greatly increases our ability to be the most effective platform for B2B marketers to reach their audiences, nurture prospects and acquire customers.”
Building a B2B Marketing Platform
In the post, Glass says his company has been a LinkedIn partner for some time. LinkedIn hopes to use Bizo’s “talent, products and technology” to continue to build its own B2B marketing platform begun last year with its Sponsored Updates feature.
In a post on the official LinkedIn Marketing Solutions Blog, David Thacker, vice president of product at LinkedIn commented:
Bizo’s tools make it possible for marketers to reach professional audiences, nurture prospects and acquire customers across a network of business and professional publishers. They have also developed innovative products that measure the effectiveness of multi-channel marketing programs — critical to helping marketers navigate the complex B2B buying process where multiple touchpoints influence every sale.
In a prepared statement released with the announcement in the LinkedIn Press Center, LinkedIn Senior Vice President of Product and User Experience Deep Nishar said:
“It’s exciting for us to bring Bizo’s expertise and technology into our ecosystem. Our ability to integrate their B2B solutions with our content marketing products will enable us to become the most effective platform for B2B marketers to engage professionals.”
LinkedIn says 10 percent of the transaction will be in stock while 90 percent will be in cash. The deal is expected to close during the third quarter of 2013.
Only the Latest Acquisition
LinkedIn acquires Bizo as the most recent of several similar moves. The company also acquired relationship management software company Newsle this month.
In related deals, LinkedIn has also acquired Connected, a Web-based professional contact manager, and Rapportive, a service that allows you to manage contacts from your email inbox.
Experts have suggested these acquisitions might indicate LinkedIn’s interest in developing Customer Relationship Management services of its own.
Image: Bizo
