This week featured a few announcements in governance. Trump offered Americans a new tax proposal, while the EU Parliament implemented a new data privacy regulation. Claiming to be the “biggest tax cut in history,” Trump’s Tax Plan suggests to relieve rates the for individuals at every income level, as well as for both small and large businesses. The biggest tax breaks will be offered to the wealthiest individuals and corporations. Watch out for our tax blog post in the coming weeks!
Across the pond, the European Parliament is taking the opposite stance of the U.S. government on data privacy. With the recent approval of the EU General Data Protection Regulation, the EU is focusing on protecting the privacy of its citizens. If you have customers in the EU, be sure to keep up to date with this new regulation. Read on below for more information.
In listings updates this week, new listings include a SaaS B2B CRM with low customer churn and low net MRR churn, as well as an affiliate business involved in the outdoor sports industry with high keyword ranking for over 2,900 keywords. See Deal Highlights below and click on the links to request a prospectus if any of these businesses interest you. In case you’re looking for something different, browse all listings here. Mark your calendars – there are quite a few May events coming up. They include a local e-commerce meetup FE International is co-organizing with MageMail, Trellis, Salsify, B2C Partners and Optaros next Tuesday May 2 in Boston. If you’re in the Greater Boston area, the event is free and CEO Ismael Wrixen, as well as the CEO of MageMail Erik Bullen, will be sharing their experience and insights on a panel discussion on product content. RSVP here. The following weekend Ismael will be headed to join the IBBA Conference in Dallas to speak about the importance of technology and automation in deal making. Founder Thomas will be attending Pulse (SaaS customer success event of the year) in Oakland, and then flying back to the East Coast in time for Sellers Summit in Ft. Lauderdale on May 18, where FE is exhibiting. If one of our team members are in your neighborhood or you are attending any of these events, let us know and we will connect you directly to set up a meeting!
Continue on below to read more news on Alphabet’s Q1 earnings, GDPR and a new WordPress update.
Deal Highlights
- Stable and predictable MRR
- Low net MRR churn averaging 2% over the trailing 12 months
- Low customer churn averaging 3% over the trailing 12 months
- One of the highest rated CRM platforms
- Diversified client base with multiple notable clients.
Yearly net profit: $252,700
Asking price: $971,000
Affiliate – Outdoor Sports – $1.1K gross/mo
- Strong domain rating and backlink profile
- Keyword ranking for over 2,900 keywords
- c. 300,000 page views in the trailing 12 months
- High margins
- Low owner involvement
Yearly net profit: $13,700
Asking price: $32,000
In the News…
Alphabet Exceeds Expected Earnings
Q1 earnings report for Google’s parent, Alphabet exceed expectations. Revenue was up 22% YoY at $24.75 billion, however aggregate cost-per-click was down 19% YoY, also marking the biggest decline since 2014. Net profit was at $5.42 billion, a 29% YoY increase.
Other bets, how Alphabet defines its other companies outside of Google, generated $244 million in revenue with an $855 million operating loss. Last year, Other bets had generated $165 million in revenue with a $744 operating loss. The Alphabet stock closed at $874.25 per share on Thursday.
Read more about Alphabet’s Q1 2017 quarterly report here.
EU Parliament Approves GDPR
Beginning on May 25, 2018, organizations will have to comply to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) across Europe. This policy is known to be the most important change in data privacy regulation in 20 years. It replaces the Data Protection Directive 96/46/EC and was designed to harmonize data privacy laws in Europe, to protect and empower all EU citizens data privacy and to reshape the way organizations approach privacy.
Key changes include increased territorial scope, penalties, strengthened conditions for consent, notifications for breaches, right to access, right to be forgotten, data portability, privacy by design and local data protection officers. To learn more about these changes and the policy visit the GDPR website here.
WordPress Update
New version of WordPress 4.7.4, now available, contains 47 maintenance enhancement and fixes. The main fix includes a visual editor compatibility fix for an upcoming Chrome update. In addition to that, when you upload audio and video files, they will no longer result in broken thumbnails. The REST API received some amendments relating to data handling. You can also now Shift-click a range of checkboxes.
Complete list of 40 maintenance fixes can be found here.