Much like every girl or guy dreams of the day they’ll get to walk down the aisle, and join their person together in holy matrimony, every tech startup romances about one day being acquired. Though I haven’t experienced the joy of either dreamlike existence, I can imagine the sheer excitement felt in the room following the announcement of an acquisition agreement. Over the last decade, technology, in all forms, has changed before our very eyes. Products that were once thought to be the stuff of science fiction are now available for purchase to the public. As companies have emerged across a variety of industries and sectors, industry leaders with extra cheddar to spend on improvements have sought to acquire businesses and teams meant to improve both entities in collaboration with one another.
Today, Dropbox (DBX) announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire HelloSign, an eSignature and document workflow platform with over 80,00 customers.
“With over an exabyte of data on our platform, millions of people already use Dropbox as a place to collaborate on their most important content. We’re thrilled to welcome HelloSign’s talented team to Dropbox and add their capabilities to our product suite. HelloSign has built a thriving business focused on eSignature and document workflow products that their users love. Together, we can deliver an even better experience to Dropbox users, simplify their workflows, and expand the market we serve.”
–Drew Houston, Co-founder, and Chief Executive Officer, Dropbox
Under the terms of the agreement, described in the official press release, Dropbox (DBX) will acquire HelloSign for $230 million in cash, subject to customary purchase price adjustments and closing conditions. While many see Dropbox’s (DBX) motivation as less-than-exciting because HelloSign, at first glance, seems to be a platform built to allow consumers to attach electronic signatures to documents, HelloSign is actually a pretty extraordinary company, and the acquisition is huge for Dropbox (DBX) users.
In a blog post regarding the acquisition deal, Dropbox (DBX) spoke on why they had such a strong interest in HelloSign. The post touched on the fact that life’s most important milestones often requiring the signing of documents, as well as the completion of forms, and this practice has remained inefficient and fragmented.
Rather than use a traditional pen and paper, the team at HelloSign “imagined a better, faster option, and built an incredible business along the way.” Dropbox (DBX) is especially excited to gain access to HelloSign’s backend API framework for their successful eSignature and online fax platforms, allowing to optimize document workflow for Dropbox customers.
According to TechCrunch, HelloSign will remain an independent entity despite being absorbed into the Dropbox family. Whitney Bouck, COO at HelloSign, informed TechCrunch that the company will continue to operate with its current management structure.
“We’re going to remain effectively a standalone business within the Dropbox family, so that we can continue to focus on developing the great products that we have and delivering value. So the good news is that our customers won’t really experience any massive change. They just more opportunity.”
–Whitney Bouck, Chief Operating Officer, HelloSign
Sources indicate that the acquisition deal is expected to close in Q1 and is, as typically follows, dependent on regulatory approval.
