There’s a significant rise in mobile downloads, a trend which can be seen through growing interest in app acquisition by publishers, funds, and buyers quickly looking to capitalize on this booming digital real estate class.
Flippa’s unparalleled buyer pool gives asset owners of all sizes and types access to private equity, institutional buyers, and high-net worth individuals.
The portfolio of Singapore-based apps, generating $12 million of revenue, with an annual growth of ~30% was purchased by an international publisher on Flippa’s platform.
Despite the app portfolio being a private listing, Flippa matched 80 verified and prospective app buyers with a combined buyer wallet in excess of $1BN.
About the Business
The portfolio of 36 apps targets startups and small/medium sized businesses and offers utilities like logo creation, video effects, online invite creation, and watermarking. At the time of sale, each app type had a download of 4,720,000, 1,540,000, 855,000, and 926,000 respectively, and most apps were priced between $3.00 to $4.99 per week, for full access with an average rating of 4.6.
Business Appeal
At the time of sale, the apps were generating an annual revenue of $11.4M with a very healthy 57% net margin (Seller Discretionary Earnings).
The metrics in the apps portfolio were simply stunning: The collection of apps were consistently generating in excess of $500,000 per month, representing nearly 60% margin. Critically, it was the high daily active usage that was appealing. This is a major metric that buyers look at when acquiring an app: customer usage. In this case, the portfolio was generating approximately 30,000 daily active users.
The Buying Journey
As tends to be the case with much larger asset purchases, the sale wasn’t quick. With an app portfolio of this size, the thorough, due diligence and matching process lasted 6 months.
First, Flippa took its time to verify the listing. Regardless of size, whether between $25,000 to $55MM, all assets are verified. Flippa then uses its proprietary matching technology to take all attributes of a listing and predict buyer fit based on search behavior, buyer mandate, and “buyers like you also looked at..” capability.
It’s important to note that both buyer and seller wished to remain anonymous.
Once the match was successfully completed, Flippa consulted the relevant buyer(s) and seller, established readiness, and presented the Letter of Intent. Generally speaking, buyers will take the lead. At this stage, they’ll move to due diligence, and in this case, it was an approximately 30-day process. We made available our integrated trust account and safely administered and adhered to the contract terms.
Related: Buyer Due Diligence Checklist
A letter of intent was a critical step here, as it set out the terms of the deal including price, deal structure, and terms. It also talked about a due diligence period and then critically, the expected close date. Fippa’s new embedded LOI feature is now available on any listing with an asking price.
Related: What is a Letter of Intent and Why Do You Need One?
Inspired by this story? Read up on others who have successfully bought and sold their businesses here.
If you’re ready to sell, check out our First Time Seller’s Guide.
Like this buyer and seller, you too can master proper buyer and seller communications etiquette. We’ll show you how to that here.
