Constant Contact Snaps Up Bantam Live in $15m Deal

In the US, Constant Contact - which develops technology for social marketing and online surveys - has acquired social CRM (customer relationship management) specialist Bantam Live in a cash deal worth $15m.

The acquisition will provide Constant Contact with a platform from which to develop a repository of survey and social media data, which it will use to help clients launch and monitor customer engagement campaigns across multiple channels.

Constant Contact says that this will 'play a crucial role' in how data is captured, reported and analyzed for its more than 400,000 small business customers, and help them better track, measure and increase customer engagement.

As part of the deal, Bantam Live's CEO John Rourke will join Constant Contact as Director of Engineering. The rest of his team will continue to be based in New York City, working from a new Constant Contact development center which will be opened later this year.

Gail Goodman (pictured), Constant Contact CEO, states: 'With the Bantam Live acquisition and our internal development initiatives, we are building a platform that delivers a targeted approach to building stronger customer relationships and cultivating new ones. Armed with better, targeted insight, small organizations can more easily turn prospects into customers or members, and fans into advocates.'

Web site: www.constantcontact.com .