Automattic, the parent company of WordPress, has announced its acquisition of WooThemes, the maker of popular blog themes and an even more popular WordPress-based, e-commerce platform called WooCommerce.
The WooCommerce plugin currently has more than 7.6 million downloads and more than a million active installations. In his blog post announcing the deal, Automattic co-founder Matt Mullenweg also cites BuiltWith.com statistics that show WooCommerce is in use on almost 25 percent of all websites with e-commerce technology.
Mullenweg says the company’s move into e-commerce has been something users have been asking for a while now.
…at a WordCamp a few years ago, someone stood up and asked me when we were going to make it as easy to create an online store as we’d made it to create a blog. Everyone applauded; there’s long been demand for better ecommerce functionality, but it’s been outside the scope of what Automattic could do well.
According to Recode.net, sources are putting the purchase at more than $30 million in cash and stock. Automattic now has 380 employees spread across 42 countries.
For more perspective on the Automattic/WooThemes deal, check out Brian Krogsgard’s article on Post Status.
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