For $425M, Atlassian acquires Trello

Atlassian, the maker of enterprise software and project collaboration tools, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire project management application Trello for $425 million. The company is paying approximately $360 million in cash and the remainder in Atlassian restricted shares, restricted share units and options to acquire Atlassian shares, all subject to continued vesting provisions. The acquisition is expected to close before March 31, 2017.

Why Trello?

Trello is a web-based project management application that was created by Fog Creek Software in September 2011. It operates a freemium business model, as well as being cross-subsidized by other Fog Creek Software products. New York based Fog Creek Software specialized in project management tools, with its most popular products being CityDesk and Copilot. Atlassian states that Trello will be a key product in its portfolio, providing a new way for teams to organize and prioritize the often complex range of information and idea sharing that feeds into great teamwork. According to the terms of the acquisition, Atlassian will keep Trello service and brand alive and absorb Trello’s employees. The company also states that the acquisition will expand its leadership in powering all types of teamwork, and add a new collaboration service to the Atlassian’s enterprise-grade project tracking (JIRA), content (Confluence) and communication (HipChat) products used by more than 65,000 organizations in 170 countries. “Atlassian knows more about how teams work than any company on the planet, which is why our collaboration suite powers teams of all shapes and sizes, from bleeding-edge startups to the Fortune 50,” said Mike Cannon-Brookes, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Atlassian.

“There is no silver bullet for teamwork. Teams have diverse ways of working and require a broad set of tools that adapt to their specific needs. Trello has built an incredibly sticky and useful product for organizing nearly any type of information simply and quickly. The addition of Trello will be a great complement to our existing portfolio of team collaboration software as we look to reach the 1 billion knowledge workers globally,” he added.

What’s next for the team?

In addition to launching a new version of its existing Trello integration for HipChat, Atlassian will be launching Trello integrations for its other leading collaboration products, including JIRA Software, Confluence and Bitbucket. The integrations will be available in the Atlassian Marketplace. Michael Pryor, CEO, Trello said, “We share Atlassian’s mission of unleashing the power of all teams. As part of Atlassian, we will accelerate our efforts and continue to champion teams everywhere.”

“Atlassian’s deep investments in research and development will help augment Trello’s product offering. And the broader team collaboration portfolio Trello will integrate with will let us help customers in new and exciting ways.”