Convio Expands to United Kingdom, Acquires One Of Country’s Leading Digital Strategy, Design and Technology Implementation Firms for Charities
Convio Brings Proven, Integrated, Cloud-based Online Fundraising, Marketing and CRM Solutions to UK-based Charities
Austin, Texas (July 5, 2011) —
Convio, Inc. (NASDAQ: CNVO) announced today it has acquired privately held Baigent Digital LLC (Baigent), a leading provider of digital strategy, design, technology implementation and online fundraising solutions to charities in the United Kingdom. Convio will deliver its proven, 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 powerful 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 leading provider of digital strategy, design, online fundraising solutions and technology implementation. Baigent serves many prominent UK charities, including UNICEF, Cancer Research UK and Action for Children.
“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.”
Initially, Convio will offer online fundraising, email marketing, CMS and TeamRaiser (Convio’s industry-leading special event software) solutions to UK charities, with plans to introduce additional product offerings, including CRM, in the future.
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, 2011.
About Convio
Convio is a leading provider of on-demand constituent engagement solutions that enable nonprofit organizations to maximize the value of every relationship. With Convio constituent engagement solutions nonprofits can more effectively raise funds, advocate for change and cultivate relationships with donors, activists, volunteers, alumni and other constituents. Convio serves more than 1,400 nonprofit organizations from their headquarters in Austin, TX, and offices in Washington DC, Overland Park, KS, and Emeryville, CA. Convio is listed on the NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol CNVO.
About Baigent Digital
Baigent Digital, headquartered in Chesham just outside London, is a leading provider of digital, creative and online fundraising strategy and solutions to the UK charity sector. Baigent Digital offers consultancy to empower charities to take control of their online activities as well as resources to support them in designing, building, promoting and managing their digital communications. Its online fundraising platform enables UK charities to raise millions of pounds each year. Baigent Digital has been working in the UK charity sector for over 14 years, with clients including Cancer Research UK, Action for Children and UNICEF UK.
For more information: www.convio.com
For more information on Baigent Digital visit: www.baigent.com or www.convio.co.uk
Forward-looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking information within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 about Convio, Baigent and the combined company after completion of the transaction. Words such as "expects," "anticipates," "targets," "goals," "projects," "intends," "plans," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," variations of such words and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements which are not statements of historical facts. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements related to the opportunity presented by the acquisition, the entry by Convio into the UK market and the demand and opportunities thereof, the ability of Convio to leverage the experience and reputation of Baigent, the needs of prospective UK-based clients and the addressability thereof by Convio and Baigent, the products and services to be delivered to UK-based clients by Convio and Baigent and the fundraising and other benefits thereof, the financial results of Baigent and the impact thereof on the financial results of Convio.
These statements reflect management’s current beliefs, assumptions and expectations and are subject to a number of factors that may cause actual results to differ materially. These factors include but are not limited to: risks associated with acquisitions generally; the risk that the demand in the UK for Convio’s products and services does not materialize and that Convio is unsuccessful selling its products and services; the risk that Convio does not effectively integrate Baigent or that the integration efforts are more burdensome or costly than anticipated; the risk that Convio is unable to leverage Baigent’s experience and reputation to accelerate entry into the UK market; the risk that Convio’s acquisition of Baigent will cause disruptions in Baigent’s or Convio’s business or customer relationships; regulatory, foreign exchange and other risks associated with entry into a foreign market; risks associated with modifying products and services for sale and delivery in foreign jurisdictions; the risk of litigation or other claims by public or private entities or persons related to the acquisition generally or related to the products, services, personnel or operations of the combined company; risks related to competitive responses to the acquisition; the risk that Convio is not able to protect its or Baigent’s intellectual property rights in the UK or elsewhere; risks related to the combined company’s reliance on third parties for products and provision of services; and other factors that are set forth in the “Risk Factors” section and other sections of our registration statement and periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Convio assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events or developments, except as required by law.
Investor Contact:
Linda Rothemund
IR@convio.com
415-652-3236
Press Contact:
Karoline McLaughlin
Director, Corporate Communications
Convio, Inc.
kmclaughlin@convio.com
512-652-7865