Square to Acquire Website Builder Weebly for $365 Million

(Bloomberg) -- Square Inc. agreed to acquire website-builder Weebly for $365 million as the payments company seeks to expand its customer base and become a one-stop-shop for small and medium-sized businesses.

The acquisition is Square’s biggest so far and gives the company access to Weebly’s millions of customers and more than 625,000 paid subscribers. The transaction will give Square a new recurring revenue stream; Weebly gets access to Square’s payments system. Almost 40 percent of Weebly’s paid subscribers are outside the U.S., which will help fuel Square’s global expansion.

“There is very little overlap between the paying subscribers on Weebly and Square’s current sellers,” said Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar. “So it’s a chance to up-sell and cross-sell.”

Square will pay in a mix of cash and stock. San Francisco-based Weebly helps consumers build professional websites or online stores.

In addition to processing payments, Square has been adding services that make running a company easier. For instance, it offers loans and software to track employee hours and provide instant deposits. Investors have pushed up the stock more than 150 percent in the past year. The shares rose 4.5 percent to $46.74 in New York on Thursday.

To contact the reporter on this story: Selina Wang in San Francisco at swang533@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Molly Schuetz

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