Lithium Scores Klout in All-Stock Deal Lithium Technologies plans to combine the 100 million consumers on its platforms with the 500 million 'touched by Klout.'
By Wendy Frink •
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Lithium Technologies purchased Klout in an all-stock deal, the companies announced in a joint press conference today.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but reports published prior to the announcement valued the deal at anywhere from $100 million to $200 million.
Klout measures how influential an individual or company is in social media on a scale from 1 to 100. The idea is the higher the score, the more pull someone has in the social world. The company, which was founded in 2008, has suffered recent growing pains, having lost chief operating officer Emil Michael to Uber this past September.
The deal immediately seems to expand the reach of Lithium, which, according to a blog post on its web site, plans to combine the 100 million consumers on its platforms with the 500 million "touched by Klout." Lithium builds online communities for companies and its client list includes Skype and AT&T, according to its website.
Related: The Pros and Cons of Using Klout and Kred for Hiring
Lithium's executive team is headed by Robert Tarkoff, who previously managed Adobe Systems' digital enterprise solutions unit. Sunil Rajasekar, formerly of Intuit Financial Services, leads Lithium's development efforts.
They will be joined by Joe Fernandez, the CEO of Klout, who is expected to continue as Klout's general manager and senior vice president at Lithium.
Klout plans to maintain its consumer offerings and continue to offer Klout Perks.
