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Freelancer.com to acquire US online escrow services firm for $7.5 million

April 27, 2015

Freelancer Ltd., an online staffing platform trading on the Australian stock exchange, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire California-based Escrow.com from a private investor for US$7.5 million in cash.

Escrow.com provides online escrow services for e-commerce sites by holding payments for goods or services until a transaction is successfully completed. Its commercial partners include eBay, GoDaddy, AutoTrader.com and Flippa.com. The company reported full-year 2014 gross payment volume of $265 million and net revenue of $5 million.

Escrow.com was founded in 1999 by Fidelity National Financial, a US provider of commercial and residential mortgage and diversified services. It then merged with iLumin in 2002 before being purchased by an unnamed private investor in 2004. Freelancer.com said it will acquire Escrow.com from the same investor.

The Escrow.com group staff will be continuing with the business.

“We are pleased to acquire Escrow.com, the world’s largest online escrow company,” said Freelancer.com Chief Executive Matt Barrie. “This highly complementary acquisition will enhance the ability of our 15 million users to transact securely, and there are large opportunities for growth and synergies with core offerings. Finally, it is a strong cornerstone for entering the payments space.”

Freelancer.com also announced the completion of a AUD$10 million placement of ordinary shares to institutional investors to fund the acquisition, and for general corporate purposes.