ZoomInfo, the rapidly growing marketing company in downtown Vancouver, said Tuesday it will pay $575 million in cash for a San Francisco marketing technology company. It’s ZoomInfo’s biggest deal since the company raised more than $900 million in its initial public offering last year.
ZoomInfo and Chorus.ai, the company it is acquiring, both provide technology that helps clients improve their sales pitches. ZoomInfo mines online sources to help marketers identify specific people within target organizations and tailor their sales pitches to the best prospects.
Chorus, founded in 2015, provides technology to monitors sales calls, emails and other communications with prospective customers. It then analyzes that information to identify the most successful sales pitches so marketing teams can replicate them to generate more business.
ZoomInfo said it will combine its own marketing technology with Chorus’ to give clients more tools to boost their sales.
Jim Benton, Chorus’ CEO, will be ZoomInfo’s vice president for emerging products. And ZoomInfo said it is promoting an executive in its Massachusetts office, Chris Hays, to president and chief operating officer.
ZoomInfo’s shares rose 83 cents, 1.6%, in early trading Tuesday following news of the Chorus deal. The stock has traded between $30.83 and $60.28 in the past year.
Though ZoomInfo doesn’t have a high profile in the Portland area, it is one of the region’s largest and most valuable companies. It has a market capitalization of $21 billion and had 1,700 employees across the business at the end of 2020.
ZoomInfo had $353.7 million in cash at the end of March, the most recent period of which it has reported financial results. The company said last week it was selling $300 million in bonds, which it said it would use to buy down other debt and for general business purposes. ZoomInfo said Tuesday it will pay for Chorus with cash on hand and $500 million in new financing.
ZoomInfo reported $476 million in revenue last year, up from $293 million in 2019. It lost $36.4 million in 2020, improving on a $78 million loss the prior year.
— Mike Rogoway | mrogoway@oregonian.com | twitter: @rogoway |