The big picture: With Mailchimp, Intuit could be looking to diversify and stabilize its portfolio. TurboTax, and to a lesser degree, QuickBooks, are seasonal products that spike in usage around tax time. A successful e-mail marketing service and the technology behind it would also complement Intuit’s other offerings.
TurboTax maker Intuit Inc. is reportedly in talks to purchase e-mail marketing service Mailchimp for north of $10 billion.
Sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that the talks are ongoing, adding that no decisions have been made and things could still fall through. Should it go through, however, it would be Intuit’s biggest deal to date.
Intuit, as you may know, also owns QuickBooks and has added both Credit Karma and the personal finance app Mint to its portfolio in recent years. Intuit paid just $170 million for Mint in 2009, but had to shell out $7.1 billion in cash and stock for Credit Karma last year.
Mailchimp founded in 2001 by Mark Armstrong and Ben Chestnut, and has since emerged as one of the leading email marketing firms.
Even if the deal falls through with Intuit, there are reportedly other interested buyers. Bloomberg reported last month that Mailchimp was exploring a sale, and was even considering selling a minority stake in its business.
Bloomberg further notes that Intuit is looking to capitalize on the recovery that’s happening as small business clients get back on track following disruptions caused by the pandemic.
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