Blackbaud has acquired social impact tech company Everfi for around $750 million in cash and stock.
Why it matters: The deal is closely tied to the ESG movement being pushed by major investors, including the Big Three index funds.
- Blackbaud's software allows schools and companies to manage employee giving and volunteering. Everfi's customers include ESG-minded companies using its "impact-as-a-service" software to offer educational content (financial literacy, health and wellness programs) to more than 25,000 U.S. K-12 schools.
- Some Everfi customers, like big banks, are mandated to offer such programs.
By the numbers: Blackbaud says the combo doubles its total addressable market to more than $20 billion, with more than half of that in the CSR/ESG category. The deal also allows Blackbaud to pull forward the timeline for its goal of mid-to-high single digit organic revenue growth.
- ESG-focused mutual fund assets hit a record $3.9 trillion at the end of the third quarter, according to Morningstar.
Deal details: Everfi investors had included private equity firm TPG Rise Fund, plus tech luminaries Jeff Bezos, Eric Schmidt and Ev Williams.
The bottom line: Blackbaud, founded from a single private school client account, and EVERFI, co-founded by three Bowdoin College grads, have functioned broadly in the ed-tech space, but in terms of an assigned deal category, the combo fits into a relatively new bucket: ESG M&A.