Blackbaud Take Over of Convio - Little Impact on Australian NFPs

While the US and UK are abuzz with news that the international software provider to Not for Profits, Blackbaud, has announced a $275 million acquisition of rival company Convio, there’s likely to be little immediate impact in the Australian market.

Blackbaud has over 250,00 clients in 60 countries including Australia. Convio has over 1,500 customers in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., including 29 of the top 50 U.S. charities. In 2010 Convio says its U.S. clients used its software and services to raise more than $1.3 billion online,

send more than 4 billion emails, power more than 32 million advocacy actions and manage relationships with more than 248 million constituents.

A statement on the merger from Blackbaud said: “The acquisition of Convio will combine the two companies’ strengths to accomplish a common mission – making multi-channel supporter engagement a reality – at a faster pace than either company could achieve on its own.”

Under the terms of the agreement, Blackbaud will acquire all outstanding shares of common stock of Convio for $16.00 per share with a value of approximately $US275 million.

Marc Chardon, Blackbaud's President and CEO, said: "We are extremely excited to announce our agreement to acquire Convio, which is a significant event for both companies. We fully expect that Convio’s best-in-class, SaaS-based capabilities for large events, advocacy and federated organisations will enable Blackbaud to offer the industry’s most diverse and flexible set of online capabilities on a global basis.”

The Managing Director of Blackbaud in Australia, Kevin Sher, says some 300 Australian Not for Profits currently use Blackbaud products and the merger offers a chance to extend the company’s range into the Asian market.

Blackbaud’s operation in Australia covers a broad Asian-Pacific region including India, Japan and New Zealand.