Constant Contact, Inc. : Constant Contact Acquires Digital Storefront™ Provider SinglePlatform
06/13/2012| 07:35am US/Eastern

Recommend:
SinglePlatform helps small businesses get found in web and mobile
searches;
Constant Contact to add free online listing
service to SinglePlatform offering
Constant
Contact®, Inc. (NASDAQ: CTCT) today announced that it has acquired
privately owned SinglePlatform, which helps small businesses get
discovered through web and mobile searches. SinglePlatform gives small
business a single place to update their critical business information
and delivers that information across a publishing network that reaches
more than 200 million consumers per month. This network includes sites
like Foursquare, New York Times, YP, and UrbanSpoon, as well as the
business's social media profiles, website, and mobile site.
SinglePlatform lets small businesses quickly distribute rich content so
that consumers can find it at the very moment they are looking to make a
purchase decision. The SinglePlatform offering complements the current
Constant Contact suite of online engagement marketing tools by helping
small businesses reach and engage their next customer even earlier in
the customer lifecycle.
"There are hundreds of online and mobile sites that consumers use to
find local businesses and make purchase decisions. It's literally
impossible for time-starved small businesses to keep up with all of
them," said Gail Goodman, CEO of Constant Contact. "Almost 50 percent of
searches for local businesses happen without a specific business in mind1
so it's absolutely critical that small businesses are listed everywhere
to ensure they are found when and where consumers are looking.
SinglePlatform makes that incredibly simple - update your information
once, and it's delivered to all of the important search engines, apps,
directories, and review sites."
As part of the acquisition, Constant Contact will make it free for small
businesses to create basic listings that will be delivered through
SinglePlatform's publishing partners. In addition, SinglePlatform will
continue to offer its paid-for Digital Storefront™ product, allowing
small businesses to add rich content to their listings, such as menus,
products and services, photos, and pricing, to give consumers the
information they need when they are making purchase decisions.
"The internet is shifting from a listing directory to a discovery
engine," said Wiley Cerilli, CEO of SinglePlatform. "The first step is
making sure your listing is available wherever people are searching. The
real magic happens when rich business information - menus, product
photos, videos - is delivered at the moment that people are making a
purchase decision. SinglePlatform's Digital Storefront is designed to do
just that, getting small businesses in front of more people with the
type of information that drives new customers and increased sales."
SinglePlatform will continue to operate out of its New York City
offices. All of SinglePlatform's employees will join the Constant
Contact team, and Cerilli will join the Constant Contact executive team
as vice president and general manager, SinglePlatform, reporting
directly to Goodman.
"We're thrilled to have the talented SinglePlatform team join Constant
Contact. SinglePlatform is just as passionate about small business
success as we have always been," said Goodman. "I look forward to
introducing our half a million small business customers to their
offering and sharing the benefits of our suite of engagement marketing
tools with SinglePlatform's rapidly growing user base."
To learn more, please go to www.constantcontact.com/singleplatform.
Details of Transaction and Updated Financial Guidance
The transaction closed on June 12, 2012. The purchase price was
approximately $65 million in cash, subject to certain adjustments. In
addition, Constant Contact has granted approximately $5 million in cash
and equity compensation for employee retention purposes. Under the terms
of the definitive agreement, Constant Contact may be obligated to pay
additional consideration of between $10 million and $30 million if
SinglePlatform achieves certain revenue objectives over the next two
years. SinglePlatform is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of Constant
Contact.
As a result of the transaction, Constant Contact is updating its
financial guidance. For the second quarter of 2012, the company does not
expect the acquisition to have a material impact on revenue. It expects
to incur approximately $1 million in expenses due to transaction costs
and expected operating costs associated with SinglePlatform in the
quarter.
For the full year 2012, SinglePlatform is expected to contribute
approximately $1 million of revenue. For the full year 2012, and
inclusive of the above mentioned transaction costs, the company now
expects adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of $35.4 million to $36.7
million (14.0%-14.5% adjusted EBITDA margin), compared to its previous
guidance of $45.8 million to $46.9 million (18.2%-18.6%) as the company
invests to scale and takes advantage of the growth potential of
SinglePlatform.
On a preliminary basis, the acquisition is expected to contribute more
than $10 million in revenue for the full year 2013. The company expects
this transaction to be accretive by the latter part of 2013 and for the
full year 2014.
The company anticipates providing more detailed financial guidance on
its Q2 financial results conference call.
Constant Contact will host a live investor-focused conference call today
at 8:30 a.m. ET to discuss the acquisition.
Investor Conference Call Information
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When:
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Wednesday, June 13, 2012
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Time:
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8:30 a.m. ET
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Live Call:
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(877) 334-1974, domestic
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(760) 666-3590, international
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Replay:
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(855) 859-2056, domestic
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(404) 537-3406, international
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Webcast:
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http://investor.constantcontact.com/(live
and replay)
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Live and replay conference ID code: 90746714
The webcast will be archived on Constant Contact's investor website for
three months.
Additional Transaction Information
In connection with the acquisition, on June 11, 2012, the Compensation
Committee of Constant Contact's Board of Directors approved and adopted
the Constant Contact, Inc. 2012 Inducement Award Plan and approved the
grant of:
-
173,351 restricted stock units to five newly hired nonexecutive
employees, 30% of which will vest on the first anniversary of the
grant date and 35% of which will vest on each of the second and third
anniversary of the grant date, subject to continued employment with
Constant Contact; and
-
Options to purchase 34,900 shares of Constant Contact common stock to
54 newly hired nonexecutive employees, which options have a seven-year
term, an exercise price equal to the last sale, or closing, price of
Constant Contact common stock on the date of grant (June 13, 2012),
and vest over four years with 25% of the shares vesting one year from
the date of grant and an additional 6.25% of the shares vesting
quarterly thereafter until fully vested, subject to continued
employment with Constant Contact.
In addition, Wiley Cerilli, vice president and general manager,
SinglePlatform, was awarded under the 2012 Inducement Plan:
-
49,529 restricted stock units, 30% of which will vest on the first
anniversary of the grant date and 35% of which will vest on each of
the second and third anniversary of the grant date, subject to
continued employment with Constant Contact.
Each of the restricted stock units and stock options described above was
granted as an inducement award in accordance with NASDAQ Listing Rule
5635(c)(4).
1Localeze/15miles Local Search Usage Study (conducted by
comScore, December 2011).
About Constant Contact, Inc.
Constant
Contact wrote the book on Engagement Marketing™ - the new marketing
success formula that helps small organizations create and grow customer
relationships in today's socially connected world. More than half a
million small businesses, nonprofits and associations worldwide use the
company's online marketing tools to generate repeat business and
referrals through email marketing, social media marketing, event
marketing, local deals and online surveys. Only Constant Contact offers
the proven combination of affordable tools and free KnowHow, including
local seminars, personal coaching and award-winning product support. The
company further supports small organizations through its extensive
network of consultants/resellers, technology providers, franchises and
national associations.
Constant Contact and the Constant Contact Logo are registered
trademarks of Constant Contact, Inc. All Constant Contact product names
and other brand names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Constant Contact, Inc. All other company and product names
may be trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
This press release contains references to adjusted EBITDA and adjusted
EBITDA margin, both of which are non-GAAP financial measures. Adjusted
EBITDA is calculated by taking GAAP net income, adding depreciation and
amortization, stock-based compensation, adjusting for taxes, then
subtracting interest and other income, net. Adjusted EBITDA margin is
equal to adjusted EBITDA divided by revenue.
Constant Contact believes that non-GAAP measures of financial results in
general provide useful information to management and investors regarding
certain financial and business trends relating to Constant Contact's
financial condition and results of operations. The company's management
uses non-GAAP financial measures to compare the company's performance to
that of prior periods for trend analyses, for purposes of determining
executive and senior management incentive compensation and for budgeting
and planning purposes. These measures are used in monthly financial
reports prepared for management and in monthly and quarterly financial
reports presented to the company's board of directors. The company
believes that the use of non-GAAP financial measures provides an
additional tool for investors to use in evaluating ongoing operating
results and trends and in comparing the company's financial measures
with other software-as-a-service companies, many of which present
similar non-GAAP financial measures to investors.
Management of the company does not consider non-GAAP financial measures
in isolation or as an alternative to financial measures determined in
accordance with GAAP. The principal limitation of non-GAAP financial
measures is that they exclude significant expenses and income that are
required by GAAP to be recorded in the company's financial statements.
In addition, they are subject to inherent limitations as they reflect
the exercise of judgments by management about which expenses and income
are excluded or included in determining non-GAAP financial measures. In
order to compensate for these limitations, management presents non-GAAP
financial measures in connection with GAAP financial results. Constant
Contact urges investors to not rely on any single financial measure to
evaluate the company's business.
Cautionary Language Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including but not limited to, statements
regarding the complementary nature of the SinglePlatform product
offering, the effectiveness of the SinglePlatform product offering,
Constant Contact's plans to integrate the SinglePlatform product
offering with Constant Contact's product offerings, the earn-out
provisions of the acquisition agreement between Constant Contact and
SinglePlatform, including the SinglePlatform revenue targets associated
with the earn-out, the overall impact of the acquisition of
SinglePlatform on Constant Contact's business and operations, including
but not limited to the expenses associated with the transaction and
future projected revenue from SinglePlatform's product offering, and
Constant Contact's financial guidance for the second quarter of 2012 and
full year 2012 and additional financial guidance related to 2013 and
2014. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date they were
first issued and were based on current expectations, estimates,
forecasts, and projections as well as the beliefs and assumptions of our
management. Words such as "expect," "anticipate," "should," "believe,"
"hope," "target," "project," "goals," "estimate," "potential,"
"predict," "may," "will," "might," "could," "intend," variations of
these terms or the negative of these terms and similar expressions are
intended to identify these forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of
which involve factors or circumstances that are beyond Constant
Contact's control. Constant Contact's actual results could differ
materially from those stated or implied in forward-looking statements
due to a number of factors, including but not limited to, the company's
ability to successfully integrate SinglePlatform, the company's ability
to continue to successfully sell SinglePlatform's product offering, the
company's ability to retain SinglePlatform's key employees, the
company's ability to manage disruptions to its ongoing operations as a
result of the acquisition, including diversion of management's time, the
company's ability to attract new customers and retain existing
customers, the company's dependence on the market for email marketing
services for small organizations, adverse economic conditions in general
and adverse economic conditions specifically affecting the markets in
which the company operates, the company's ability to successfully
develop and introduce new products and add-ons or enhancements to
existing products, including the Social Campaigns and SaveLocal products
and the SinglePlatform product offering, adverse regulatory or legal
developments, the company's ability to continue to promote and maintain
its brand in a cost-effective manner, changes in the competitive
environment, the company's ability to compete effectively, the company's
ability to attract and retain key personnel, the company's ability to
protect its intellectual property and other proprietary rights, and
other risks detailed in Constant Contact's most recent Quarterly Report
on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission as well
as other documents that may be filed by the company from time to time
with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Past performance is not
necessarily indicative of future results. The forward-looking statements
included in this press release represent Constant Contact's views as of
the date of this press release. The company anticipates that subsequent
events and developments will cause its views to change. Constant Contact
undertakes no intention or obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise. These forward-looking statements should not
be relied upon as representing Constant Contact's views as of any date
subsequent to the date of this press release.
(CTCT-F)

Constant Contact
Media Contact:
Erika Dornaus,
781-482-7039
pr@constantcontact.com
or
Investor
Contact:
Jeremiah Sisitsky, 339-222-5740
ir@constantcontact.com
© Business Wire 2012
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