MessageBird PE Investors Inject $1bn to Help Finance U.S. Expansion

MessageBird BV has received roughly $1bn in private-equity investments that the Amsterdam-based communications technology company is using to bolster its U.S. market share and its product offerings.

Eurazeo Growth, Tiger Global Management, BlackRock Inc. and Owl Rock Capital Partners participated in the extended investment round, which included both debt and equity, MessageBird said in a news release. The company’s earlier backers that also participated include venture-capital firms Accel, Atomico and Spark Capital.

 The company, whose products support cloud-based communications services that include text, voice and video, is adding email to its arsenal with an agreement to buy Message Systems Inc., a Columbia, Md.-based company that does business as SparkPost. The deal values the email technology provider at around $600m and is expected to close by June 30.

MessageBird is financing the purchase out of the around $800m in investments it has received through an extended Series C round since last October, according to founder and Chief Executive Robert Vis. The company said it initially received some $200m in the Series C.

The total investment through the Series C round values MessageBird at $3.8bn, according to a person familiar with the deal.

Source: Wall Street Journal

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