If you use the popular password manager LastPass, you’ll soon be using the service as part of LogMeIn, the popular remote desktop management service. The companies have announced that LogMeIn (Nasdaq:LOGM) has agreed to acquire LastPass (incorporated as Marvasol) for up to US $125 million. LogMeIn’s LastPass acquisition is expected to close in the coming weeks.
Fear not–LastPass won’t be going away. LogMeIn says that LastPass will gain features from Meldium, another password service LogMeIn acquired a year ago. In the near-term, it will support both Meldium and LastPass, with long-term plans to fold Meldium completely into LastPass.
Some might say that the deal is perfect timing for LastPass, which could benefit from access to LogMeIn’s huge user base. Back in June, LastPass was hacked and the company urged its millions of users to change their account password in order to avoid any of their managed passwords from being compromised. Although LastPass weathered that storm well, there’s no doubt that it suffered slower new user registrations as a result.
A few months ago LastPass added free mobile password support, finally letting its users access their favorite mobile apps and websites on Android, iOS, and Windows Phone smartphones or tablets. The mobile service is free on just one platform, but costs $12 a year if you want the automated sync service across multiple devices.
LogMeIn plans to leverage its LastPass acquisition to claim a stake in the growing secure identity and access management identity market. That market being driven by increasing global adoption of web and mobile apps, the bring-your-own-app (BYOA) trend, and more decentralized approaches to managing identity in the workplace. According to LogMeIn and LastPass, about 70 percent of companies now report using employee-introduced applications in the workplace, as opposed to IT-introduced and company-procured applications. More concerning is that almost two-thirds (64 percent) of internet users use the same passwords for most or all websites, according to their findings.
LastPass acquisition terms
Under the terms of the transaction, LogMeIn will pay $110 million in cash upon close for all outstanding equity interests in LastPass, with up to an additional $15 million in cash payable in contingent payments which are expected to be paid to equity holders and key employees of LastPass upon the achievement of certain milestone and retention targets over the two-year period following the closing of the transaction.
