Salesforce Acquires Buddy Media for $689 Million

Salesforce has entered an agreement to acquire social media marketing platform Buddy Media for approximately $689 million, the company has announced.

The price is lower than the recently reported $800 million figure, but still a formidable investment from the enterprise software giant, which is on a seemingly never-ending acquisition spree. Salesforce had acquired collaboration tool company Stypi in May 2012, as well as social media monitoring platform Radian6 in March 2011.

Buddy Media currently works with “nearly 1,000 of the world’s largest companies,” including brands such as Virgin Mobile, HP, Matte and L’Oreal.

“The idea behind the deal is simple. By combining Buddy Media with the rest of salesforce.com’s products, including Salesforce Radian6, the leading social media listening platform, we will be able to deliver the first comprehensive Marketing Cloud that will allow customers to listen, engage, gain insight, publish, advertise and measure social marketing programs,” wrote Buddy Media founder and CEO Michael Lazerow in a post commenting the acquisition.

It’s an interesting time for social media management platforms. Just last month, Salesforce’s rival Oracle snapped up Vitrue for $300 million. Like Buddy Media, Vitrue focuses on helping brands manage their social media presence using CRM-like tools and dashboards.

Under the terms of the agreement, Salesforce will buy Buddy Media for approximately $467 million in cash, $184 million in Salesforce common stock and $38 million in vested salesforce.com options and restricted stock units.

The transaction is expected to be completed during salesforce.com’s fiscal third quarter ending October 31, 2012, subject to customary closing conditions.

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