Hearsay Sold to Yext for More Than $125M

Yext Inc. said late Tuesday that it’s buying Hearsay Systems, a provider of digital client engagement tools for financial services firms, for $125 million. An extra $95 million could be paid to Hearsay if certain post-transaction performance targets are hit, according to the announcement.

The deal is expected to close in the second half of Yext’s fiscal year 2025 — which ends Jan. 31, 2025 — subject to customary closing conditions, such as regulatory approvals. The payout period, which is detailed in full in Article III of Yext’s 8-K filing, covers two years post-close and is based on the total annual recurring revenue generated from new sales.

Yext, a digital experience platform, helps firms answer questions about their businesses online, organize and manage listings on search engines, landing pages for products and reviews across websites.

Hearsay was founded in 2009 by Clara Shih, now its executive chairwoman and the CEO of Salesforce AI. Its tools are used by some 260,000 financial advisors and agents, including those at BlackRock, Charles Schwab and New York Life.

Yext aims to provide a single digital marketing platform for financial advisors to better manage the customer journey “from prospect to loyal customer,” according to the announcement. To this end, Yext aims to combine its digital presence management platform with Hearsay Systems’ compliant engagement solutions across social media, websites, text and voice.