Sinch, which specialises in cloud communications for mobile customer engagement, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire MessengerPeople, a German software-as-as-service platform for conversational messaging. Sinch will pay a total enterprise value of €48m, with a total cash consideration of €33.6m and €14.4m paid in the form of new shares in Sinch. Using yesterday’s EUR/SEK exchange rate of 10.18, this corresponds to an enterprise value of SEK 489m.

Founded in Munich in 2015, MessengerPeople offers a cloud-based software suite designed to make it easy for businesses to engage with their customers via messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram and Apple Business Chat (iMessage).

MessengerPeople was amongst the first companies to recognize the potential of next generation messaging channels and build software tools for businesses to leverage these capabilities. More than 700 businesses use MessengerPeople applications to engage with their customers, around 80 per cent of these based in the DACH region.

The company has around 40 employees and is based in Munich, Germany. It serves businesses across a broad range of verticals such as eCommerce, Automotive, Public Authorities, and Media. Current customers include TUI, Women’s Best, and the state government of Telangana, India.

In the year ending December 2021, MessengerPeople is expected to generate revenues of €5.1m, Gross Profit of €4.5m, and Adjusted EBITDA of €0.6m.
The MessengerPeople platform is particularly well-suited for pre-sales and customer care, which accounts for around 85 percent of current volumes. Monetization is based primarily on subscriptions and monthly active users, through a software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, rather than on transaction volumes.

“I’m very impressed with the MessengerPeople team and their success in bringing innovative products to market,” said Sinch CEO, Oscar Werner. “Most businesses have yet to discover the benefits of conversational messaging, and together we are superbly placed to win in this market as uptake now begins to accelerate.”