Flush with IPO cash, Snap (SNAP 6.70%) has gone on a summer shopping spree.
In June, Snap unveiled a new feature called Snap Map, which allows Snapchatters to track the locations of friends in real time. Many noticed that the feature looked rather familiar and resembled an app made by Zenly. Shortly thereafter, it was reported that Snap had acquired Zenly for an estimated $200 million to $350 million.
Then there was the acquisition of Placed, which reportedly had a price tag of $125 million to $200 million. Placed allows advertisers to track and measure in-store attribution, essentially helping advertisers figure out if Snapchat ads are translating into foot traffic at retail locations.
Now we know how much Snap actually spent
Following its dismal second-quarter earnings release, Snap has filed its corresponding 10-Q, which includes the official figures. Here's the bit on Zenly:
In May 2017, we acquired Zenly SAS, a company that develops a location-based social media application that allows users to see where their friends are on a map. The purpose of the acquisition was to enhance the functionality of our platform. The total consideration paid was $213.3 million in cash, of which $196.1 million represents purchase consideration and includes $186.8 million in cash paid to the sellers and $9.3 million of liabilities due to the sellers. The remaining $17.2 million of total consideration transferred represents compensation for future employment services.
There was another, smaller acquisition that was not reported, and Snap doesn't specify it by name:
In June 2017, we acquired a component of a business from a social advertising software company that was integrated with our existing advertising platform and adds advertising tools and creative solutions to our advertising customers. In addition, in March 2017, we acquired all outstanding shares of a company that operates a cloud hosted platform for building content online. The company was acquired to enhance the functionality of our platform. The total purchase consideration for these acquisitions was $62.1 million, which included $60.2 million in cash and $1.9 million recorded in other liabilities on the consolidated balance sheets.
Then the section related to Placed, which actually did not occur until July (contrary to the reports in June):
In July 2017, we acquired an advertising measurement services company for $135.2 million in cash. The company was acquired to enhance advertising effectiveness. We are currently in the process of valuing the assets acquired and liabilities assumed in the transaction. Results of operations for the acquired company will be included in our consolidated financial statements from the date of acquisition.
Since the Placed acquisition closed in July, it was not reflected in the second-quarter financials but will instead be included in third-quarter results. Between those three acquisitions, that's a $410.6 million total price tag. Following its IPO, Snap finished the first quarter with $3.2 billion in cash on the balance sheet, and the company just spent a decent chunk of that cash. Snap closed out the second quarter with $2.8 billion in cash before factoring in the Placed deal.
Image source: Snap.
Snap paid quite a bit for those smaller companies, and as such recorded a fair amount of goodwill since the purchase prices were well above the acquired companies' book values. There was $154.4 million worth of goodwill associated with Zenly, and $24.1 million worth of goodwill for the unnamed acquisition, adding $178.5 million in goodwill combined to the balance sheet. Placed will add even more once Snap is done running the numbers for the deal.
Acquiring companies in order to add features and tools is certainly much faster than developing those features and tools on your own, but Snap is already running up quite a bill, and it's not clear if any of these new features will help address the competitive threats that Snapchat now faces from larger rivals.
Just because you have the money doesn't mean you should go on a shopping spree.
