TMCnet News
Convio Extends Business into the United KingdomJul 08, 2011 (Close-Up Media via COMTEX) -- Convio, Inc. announced it has acquired privately-held Baigent Digital, a provider of digital strategy, design, technology implementation and online fundraising solutions to charities in the United Kingdom. According to a release, Convio will deliver its integrated constituent engagement solution -- including capabilities for online fundraising, special events fundraising, email marketing, content management and CRM -- to the UK market. Convio's solutions combined with Baigent's experience will provide UK charities with a solution partner to help raise more money, conduct effective online marketing campaigns and deepen supporter relationships. "We are excited about entering the UK marketplace," said Gene Austin, president and CEO of Convio. "Our research indicates there is a significant interest in integrated, cloud-based solutions with UK charities. Baigent's capabilities and established relationships with many leading UK charities provide a springboard to gain rapid entry into the UK market. The broad range of solutions and services our combined companies will provide to the market will enable UK-based organizations to build stronger relationships with supporters, raise money more efficiently and be more successful." Baigent was founded in 1997 with the mission to enable charities to fulfill their online potential. It has since evolved into a provider of digital strategy, design, online fundraising solutions and technology implementation. "I believe that our team's capabilities and deep understanding of the UK charity sector, combined with Convio's integrated solutions and online fundraising expertise, will lead to great results for UK charities," said Martin Campbell, managing director for Baigent. "Convio's solution incorporates fundraising, marketing, peer-to-peer and CRM capabilities in an integrated fashion via the cloud. We don't see any other products in the UK market offering this kind of feature set." Under the terms of the agreement, Convio will pay approximately $2.9 million in cash and may also pay $0.4 million in cash based on successful achievement of performance targets payable over three and a half years. Baigent was roughly break-even on revenue of approximately $2 million in 2010. Convio expects to accelerate its UK investment in 2011 and 2012 to take advantage of this opportunity and will provide additional financial detail regarding the transaction on its regularly scheduled second quarter earnings call, to be held August 4. More information: www.baigent.com www.convio.co.uk ((Comments on this story may be sent to [email protected])) |