USA – DocuSign (NASDAQ:DOCU) acquired Liveoak Technologies, an Austin, Texas-based startup that provides a secure agreement-collaboration platform, for $38m in an all-stock transaction.
DocuSign plans to leverage Liveoak’s technology and expertise to accelerate the launch of DocuSign Notary, a new product in the Agreement Cloud suite that focuses on remote online notarization (RON)—where audio-visual technology is used to complete a notarial act when the signers and the notary public are in different places. The deal builds on the companies’ existing partnership, where DocuSign eSignature is integrated with Liveoak’s secure agreement-collaboration platform. Led by CEO Tim Ramza, Liveoak uses web-based videoconferencing, rich collaboration features, identity verification and other tools to help complete an auditable transaction remotely—and it counts some of the world’s largest financial institutions as customers. DocuSign will continue to offer Liveoak’s platform for remotely completing other “assisted agreements”—such as account openings or virtual inspections—that require in-person facilitation and an audit trail. 08/07/2020
