August 23, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
Blackbaud, a company in Charleston, S.C., that provides accounting, fund-raising, and other financial software for nonprofit groups, will purchase eTapestry, an Indianapolis company, for $24.8-million, with possible additional payments of up to $1.5-million, depending on the performance of Blackbaud stock.
eTapestry, which specializes in fund-raising software and has 3,000 clients, will not be absorbed into Blackbaud, which has about 15,000 customers, but will instead operate as a wholly owned subsidiary.
The co-founder and chief executive officer of eTapestry, Jay Love, will continue to lead his company, with other top executives retaining their posts as well.
The acquisition of eTapestry is Blackbaud’s second major purchase this year of a software company that provides services for nonprofit groups.
In January, the company paid $60-million for Target Software and the Target Analysis Group, both in Cambridge, Mass.
In addition, Blackbaud purchased another software company, Campagne Associates, of Manchester, N.H., in February 2006 for $6-million.
Those buyouts have drawn criticism from rivals such as SofterWare, which say they worry that fewer companies will lead to less competition among software vendors, and ultimately could hurt nonprofit organizations.
In a statement, SofterWare also criticized the close ties between eTapestry executives and Blackbaud.
eTapestry is the second company headed by Mr. Love that has been sold to Blackbaud (the first was Master Software Corporation), and he also worked at Target Software.
For more information: Go to http://www.blackbaud.com
