Salesforce.com agreed on Tuesday to buy ExactTarget, a provider of marketing software services, for about $2.5 billion, further bolstering its social marketing offerings.
Under the terms of the deal, Salesforce.com will pay $33.75 a share, nearly 53 percent above ExactTarget’s closing price on Monday.
The takeover is the latest by Salesforce.com, which has made a number of acquisitions to bolster its marketing offerings. Last year, it bought Buddy Media, a social media manager, for $689 million. And two years ago, it bought Radian6 for that company’s ability to help customers track their effectiveness on Facebook and Twitter.
Buying ExactTarget will give Salesforce.com a portfolio of digital marketing services that allow customers to manage their campaigns over e-mail, social networks and mobile devices. Salesforce.com pointed to surveys showing an increase in marketing spending on digital offerings, with Garner estimating that consumer technology companies planning to switch one-third of their ad spending to online efforts within two years.
“The addition of ExactTarget makes Salesforce the starting place for every company and puts salesforce.com in the pole position to capture this opportunity,†Marc Benioff, chairman and chief executive of Salesforce.com, said in a statement.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch advised Salesforce.com, while JPMorgan Chase advised ExactTarget.
