Webex buys intranets.com for $45 million

Filed in archive Venture Capital on August 7, 2005

Webex has announced to acquire intranets.com:

"San Mateo-based WebEx, which has historically focused on helping big business customers conduct meetings online, said the acquisition of Intranets.com helps WebEx expand into the small and medium-sized business market.


WebEx has begun targeting the consumer and small business market with a new offering it calls MyWebEx.


Intranets.com offers communication services to more than 300,000 paying subscribers and 10,000 small- and medium-sized businesses. The company provides collaborative software that allows teams of people to collaborate remotely on projects."

I think this is a smart move here for Webex. Intranets.com has been one of the few survivors in the battle for intranets/ extranets AAP fees. The price appears to be cheap - just 3 times the
2005 revenue for a profitable company with thousands of auto renewable Asp
contracts. I have no further inside into the accounts of intranets.com but it
appears to be a real bargain here. Webex should make sure they also appeal to SME customers as new competitive tools arrive in the marketplace. The
integration into intranets.com' platform seems to be a great way to do that
(alas the same could have been tested and brought to success without buying
the company I guess).