- Thomson Reuters has agreed to acquire SafeSend in a $600 million deal.
- Thomson Reuters will integrate SafeSend’s tax automation solutions to help tax professionals improve efficiency, particularly as the U.S. faces a shortage of tax professionals.
- Thomson Reuters will preserve the SafeSend brand and continue to offer it as a publicly available solution.
In the U.S., many savvy taxpayers will start working on their 2024 taxes now that the new year has arrived. That might be what content and technology company Thomson Reuters had in mind when it agreed this week to acquire tax technology company SafeSend for $600 million in cash.
Founded in 2008, SafeSend helps accountants and bookkeepers automate aspects of their clients’ tax returns, including assembly, review, taxpayer e-signature, and delivery. The company’s software is used by 70% of the top 500 accounting firms in the U.S. The Michigan-based company is expected to generate approximately $60 million of revenue in 2025 and grow more than 25% annually in the next few years.
“The needs of our customers and their clients drive every decision we make at Thomson Reuters. This acquisition underscores our commitment to addressing the evolving challenges faced by tax professionals and taxpayers alike,” said Thomson Reuters President of Tax, Audit and Accounting Professionals Elizabeth Beastrom. “By integrating SafeSend’s innovative technology with our existing solutions, we’re simplifying tax preparation workflows, and meeting the dynamic demands of businesses we serve to help them thrive in an increasingly complex tax landscape.”
Thomson Reuters expects the acquisition will add to its services catering to tax and accounting professionals. SafeSend’s wide range of solutions will help tax preparers and their teams create more efficient workflows fueled by online file transfer tools, e-signature solutions, client communication products, and more.
Going forward, Thomson Reuters will preserve the SafeSend brand and continue to offer it as a publicly available solution. This decision to preserve the SafeSend brand and offer it as a standalone solution suggests that the SafeSend brand and its reputation carry value. For SafeSend, being backed by Thomson Reuters opens up new opportunities for launching new technologies, scaling, and reaching a wider audience.
“Today marks an exciting new chapter for SafeSend customers,” said SafeSend Co-founder Steve Dusablon. “Becoming a part of Thomson Reuters will enable us to accelerate product development efforts and realize our shared vision of an end-to-end tax workflow solution.”
Thomson Reuters, which has demoed at two Finovate events, offers legal, tax, risk, supply chain, and other solutions in addition to its media business. The company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol TRI and currently has a market capitalization of $72.9 billion.
Thomson Reuters’ acquisition of SafeSend comes at a time when the U.S. is seeing a decrease in the number of tax professionals. SafeSend’s technology will help tax professionals and firms streamline their operations amid growing regulatory complexity and heightened client expectations.