Benzinga | Apr 28, 2021 02:18PM EDT

MessageBird Set To Acquire Twilio Competitor For $600M Cash: Bloomberg

* A Dutch software company, MessageBird, is set to acquire email marketing firm SparkPost for $600 million in an all-cash deal to strengthen its North American focus and competition with Twilio Inc (NYSE: TWLO), Bloomberg reports.

* Twilio's value has grown from $1.23 billion to $67.8 billion within four years of listing.

* MessageBird had procured $800 million from investors including Eurazeo, Tiger Global, Owl Rock Capital, and BlackRock Inc (NYSE: BLK) to fund the transaction. Eurazeo's Nathalie Kornhoff-Bruls will join MessageBird's board.

* MessageBird aims to grow its U.S. workforce from 20 to 300 by the transaction closure.

* SparkPost sells software to JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE: JPM), PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: PYPL), LinkedIn, and Adobe Inc (NASDAQ: ADBE) to send marketing emails and analytics tools to understand and improve the number of people opening and reading them.

* MessageBird completed three acquisitions by March. The company sells tools to companies that enable them to add a few coding lines to their app or website for customer queries via text, email, video conference, or call. MessageBird also works globally with telecom operators for SMS delivery and instant message alerts, like two-factor authentication codes or weather warnings.

* SparkPost's technology will materially extend MessageBird's email investment and consolidate its competitive position versus companies like Mailgun and Sendgrid.

* SparkPost had raised $180 million from investors including LLR Partners, NewSpring Capital, and PNC Bank, based on a January Wall Street Journal report.

* Price action: TWLO shares traded lower by 0.64% at $393.38 on the last check Wednesday.