Campaign Monitor acquires marketing platforms Sailthru and Liveclicker

Australian-born email marketing software company Campaign Monitor has acquired marketing platforms Sailthru and Liveclicker and launched overarching brand CM Group.

The terms of the acquisitions were not disclosed, however CM Group stated that the additions will add nearly $60 million in revenue and 540 new customers, among them Bloomberg, Samsung, and Bauer Media. According to CM Group, the acquisition of Liveclicker closed last July, while the Sailthru deal was finalised in December.

Both founded in 2008, Liveclicker provides marketers with real-time email personalisation solutions, while Sailthru allows businesses to deliver personalised messages and content across email, web, and mobile.

While each will continue to operate as an independent brand, it’s further consolidation for the email marketing space following Campaign Monitor’s merging with marketing solutions Emma and Delivra last June.

Wellford Dillard, CEO of CM Group, said the company’s vision is to be the “most respected, fastest-growing” family of marketing technology companies in the world.

“Sailthru and Liveclicker are extraordinary technologies capable of solving important marketing problems, and we will be making additional investments in the businesses to further accelerate their growth,” he said.

“Bringing these brands together makes it possible for us to provide marketers with the ideal solution for their needs as they navigate the complex and rapidly changing environments in which they operate.”

CM Group, headquartered in Nashville, now has more than 500 employees and 300,000 global customers across its five brands.

Cassie Young, chief commercial officer at Sailthru, said the growth of the company highlights the fact that corporate organisations are “ready to move past the legacy marketing clouds”.

“Now, as part of the CM Group, our organization will have the resources needed to ensure all enterprise marketers are aware of what is possible with a modern multichannel marketing hub,” she said.

Xavier Casanova, cofounder and CEO of Liveclicker, added, “This is great news for Liveclicker and our clients – some of the largest and most sophisticated marketers in the world – as we continue to serve them and our partners. We strongly believe that real-time personalisation made simple and scalable will drive the future of email marketing.”

It’s been an interesting journey for Campaign Monitor, founded in Sydney’s Sutherland Shire by Ben Richardson and Dave Grenier in 2004.

It skyrocketed in 2014, raising US$250 million in funding and appointing Alex Bard as CEO.

Bard, who pushed in particular for Campaign Monitor to focus on the small business sector, left the company in 2017, with Dillard appointed soon after.

Image: Wellford Dillard. Source: CM Group.