UPDATE: LinkedIn Announces Purchase of Bizo, Valued at $175M

LinkedIn

, the world's largest professional network on the Internet with more than 300 million members worldwide, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Bizo, a leader in business audience marketing. Bizo offers technology and products that enable measurable display and social advertising programs specifically focused on professional audience segments. Based in San Francisco, CA, Bizo was founded in 2008 by Russell Glass, Bryan Burdick, Donnie Flood, Mark Dye, Lee Byrne and Yonatan Stern. The transaction is valued at approximately $175 million, subject to adjustment, in a combination of approximately 10 percent stock and approximately 90 percent cash. Subject to the completion of customary conditions, the acquisition is expected to close during the third quarter of 2014. B2B marketers use Bizo to target prospects within professional segments, and nurture them at every stage of their sales and marketing funnel. Fueled by proprietary data management and targeting technology, their platform enables precise and measurable multi-channel marketing programs. Since 2008, the company has been helping brands meet their marketing objectives by getting the right message in front of the right audiences on the web. "It's exciting for us to bring Bizo's expertise and technology into our ecosystem," said Deep Nishar, LinkedIn's SVP of Product and User Experience. "Our ability to integrate their B2B solutions with our content marketing products will enable us to become the most effective platform for B2B marketers to engage professionals." "We have been a LinkedIn partner for a while now and it became clear that our respective missions and cultures are really well aligned," said Russell Glass, Bizo's Co-Founder & CEO. "I couldn't be more thrilled that we are coming together to accelerate our ability to reach professional audiences, nurture prospects, and acquire customers in truly powerful ways." Following closing, many members of the Bizo team are expected to join LinkedIn. David Thacker, Vice President of Product, blogged in more detail about the acquisition on the LinkedIn Marketing Solutions blog. For Bizo's perspective, a blog by CEO Russell Glass can be read on the Bizo Blog.