Twilio to buy cloud customer data startup Segment for $3.2 billion: Forbes

[October 10, 2020]  (Reuters) - Cloud communications platform provider Twilio Inc <TWLO.N> plans to buy customer data infrastructure company Segment for $3.2 billion, Forbes reported on Friday.

The deal, which had not been finalized as of Friday afternoon, was expected to be at least partially based on Twilio stock, the report added, citing two sources it did not name.

San Francisco-based Segment has recently been open to acquisition offers, according to the report.

Twilio declined to comment to Reuters. Segment was not immediately available for comment outside regular business hours.

Segment raised $175 million in a Series D funding round in April 2019. The startup said in September that it worked with more than 20,000 businesses including Intuit, FOX and Levi's, employing more than 550 people.

Cloud companies have seen a surge in demand this year as more businesses use their services to meet the demands of the switch to work from home due to the coronavirus outbreak.

A banner for communications software provider Twilio Inc., hangs on the facade of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to celebrate the company's IPO in New York City, U.S., June 23, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

"Twilio is a beneficiary of pandemic-catalyzed digital transformation acceleration," brokerage JP Morgan said in a note this month.

Last week, Twilio estimated third-quarter sales above its previous forecast, as the switch to remote working and learning boosted demand for cloud services.

(Reporting by Juby Babu and Kanishka Singh; Editing by William Mallard)

[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.