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HootSuite acquires Seesmic in effort to boost business user base

HootSuite acquires Seesmic in effort to boost business user base

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Social media dashboard HootSuite has acquired Seesmic, an app for Android and iOS that allows users to manage multiple social media accounts. HootSuite confirmed the acquisition on its blog today, though neither company has disclosed a price. According to TechCrunch, the final price will be determined according to how many Seesmic users switch over to HootSuite.

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Seesmic Android
Seesmic Android

Social media dashboard HootSuite has acquired Seesmic, a similar app for Android and iOS that allows users to manage multiple social media accounts. HootSuite confirmed the acquisition on its blog today, though neither company has disclosed a price. According to TechCrunch, the final price will be determined according to how many Seesmic users switch over to HootSuite.

HootSuite CEO Ryan Holmes told TechCrunch that his company is acquiring Seesmic primarily as a way to pad its enterprise user base, which currently sits at 4.5 million. HootSuite says it will continue to support Seesmic as it transitions business accounts over to its own platform, though Seesmic's consumer users will apparently be left to their own devices. These users, according to HootSuite, will be "encouraged to explore new tools, apps and features available at Twitter.com." (Seesmic has not disclosed how many business users are under its umbrella, though it sees an estimated 30,000 - 40,000 unique visitors per month.)

Further details are still unclear, though Holmes has confirmed that Seesmic founder and CEO Loic LeMeur will stay on to assist with the transition. The acquisition also gives Vancouver-based HootSuite a foothold in San Francisco (site of Seesmic's headquarters), though it remains to be seen whether the company actually expands operations to the Bay Area.

Holmes says his service is still exploring potential acquisitions that would boost its technology portfolio, and acknowledges that other companies have approached him with their own offers to buy HootSuite. He remains confident, however, that HootSuite won't be swallowed by Twitter or other fast-growing social media giants. "We think of ourselves as a social media Switzerland," Holmes told TechCrunch. "We sit between Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn and 30 other social networks. And I don’t think we will see those social media properties butt up against what we are doing because they don’t really want to acknowledge the existence of the others."