Intuit wraps up sales, unloads QuickBase to private equity firm

09.03.2016
Intuit yesterday said it had sold its QuickBase unit, the third group it's unloaded since January, to a New York private equity firm.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

QuickBase -- a platform for creating data-driven, cloud-based apps for small and mid-sized businesses -- will be acquired by Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, which specializes in technology and health care. QuickBase, headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., will remain there, the equity firm said in a statement.

QuickBase was the final unit sold of the three that Intuit identified last year as on the block. Intuit sold Dreamforce in January and, just last week, announced the sale of its original product -- the Quicken personal finance software -- to H.I.G. Capital, another private equity firm.

Last summer, Intuit's CEO Brad Smith contended that Quicken, QuickBase and Dreamforce no longer fit the company's strategy, which aims at cloud-based subscription services. Intuit's two biggest money makers -- QuickBooks and TurboTax -- will be retained.

QuickBase generated more revenue than Quicken, the 33-year-old program that started Intuit: In the 2015 fiscal year, QuickBase brought in over $70 million, while Quicken's revenue line for the same period was $51 million.

The QuickBase deal is expected to close by the end of June.

(www.computerworld.com)

Gregg Keizer