DocuSign Buys Liveoak For $38M As It Looks To Offer Online Notary Service

DocuSign Inc. DOCU on Tuesday announced it had acquired virtual customer engagement and business platform Liveoak for $38 million in an all-stock deal.

What Happened

The purchase comes as the e-signature company looks to launch "DocuSign Notary," offering remote online notarization as a service.

"DocuSign plans to leverage Liveoak's technology and expertise to accelerate the launch of DocuSign Notary....where audio-visual technology is used to complete a notarial act when the signers and the notary public are in different places," the San Francisco-based company said in a statement.

Liveoak uses a combination of video conferencing, collaboration tools, and identity verification to let users complete auditable transactions remotely, without needing in-person verification of documents.

DocuSign Notary is expected to be available for early access later this summer, according to the company. DocuSign already has a partnership with Liveoak, where it uses the Austin-based startup's product to let users perform other virtual inspections.

Why It Matters

The acquisition comes at a time when the demand for digital services has seen a record surge due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Lockdowns imposed worldwide to curb the spread of the virus required businesses to operate remotely, increasing demand for services like DocuSign, and other work collaboration tools, including Slack Technologies Inc. WORK, Microsoft Corporation's MSFT Teams, and Zoom Video Communications Inc. ZM.

DocuSign's own stock is up 166.9% year-till-date after it closed 3.7% higher at $197.79 on Tuesday.