Online tax prep specialist Intuit (INTU 0.73%) is reportedly ready to shell out $7 billion for Credit Karma, a provider of credit history data and personal finance services.
The Wall Street Journal reported over the weekend the cash and stock deal could happen as soon as Monday. It would be the largest acquisition in Intuit's history, and would provide the owner of TurboTax and QuickBooks a new avenue of growth in personal finance.
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Not a taxing decision to make
Although Credit Karma is best known for its credit score and credit monitoring services, the privately held company also offers access to tax preparation and filing services and connects customers to credit cards and loans based on their credit history. When customers use those services, Credit Karma receives payment.
It had planned to go public last year, but delayed the offering as the IPO market faltered following poor results from numerous tech-based businesses such as Peloton and Uber.
Unlike many of those companies, however, Credit Karma is reportedly profitable. It added some 75 million users over the past five years, and one out of every two millennials has signed up for the service. It was viewed as a top IPO candidate for 2020.
Intuit has a toehold in the personal finance market outside of its tax prep services and accounting software through Mint, an online personal budgeting service. Adding Credit Karma would give it a much wider footprint in that arena.
