Twilio To Buy Email API Platform SendGrid for $2 Billion

Cloud communications API provider Twilio revealed its plan on Monday to acquire SendGrid, an email API platform, to bring together voice, messaging, video, and now email creation, into one platform for developers.

Via the terms of the deal, San Francisco-based Twilio will buy SendGrid in an all-stock transaction valued at approximately $2 billion, or approximately $36.92 per share based on today’s closing stock prices, according to the two companies.

Twilio and Denver-based SendGrid expect the transaction to close during the first half of 2019. The boards of directors of both Twilio and SendGrid have already approved the transaction.

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SendGrid's email API platform lets users send mass emails at a large scale. Adding the company's technology to Twilio's cloud communications platform will give developers one place to build and manage their communication channels, including voice, messaging, video, and now email, the two companies explained in a release on Monday afternoon.

“Increasingly, our customers are asking us to solve all of their strategic communications challenges - regardless of channel. Email is a vital communications channel for companies around the world, and so it was important to us to include this capability in our platform," said Jeff Lawson, Twilio's co-founder and CEO.

SendGrid's CEO Sameer Dholakia said that two companies share a common goal of creating powerful communications experiences for businesses by giving developers the ability to embed communications into software.

"Our mission is to help our customers deliver communications that drive engagement and growth, and this combination will allow us to accelerate that mission for our customers," Dholakia said in a statement.

Twilio's stock closed Monday at $76.13 per share, up about 3.19 percent after the announcement of the acquisition was made. SendGrid's stock closed at $30.93 per share in after-hours trading, jumping up by 13.81 percent.