Financial software house Intuit Inc is buying Lacerte Software Corp, a Dallas-based developer of professional tax preparation software, for $400m in cash. Under terms of the agreement, Intuit will acquire all of the assets and liabilities of the privately- held Lacerte and a related services company, which will operate as a subsidiary of Intuit. Lacerte’s current chief operating officer, Randy Zeller, will become president of the unit with the closing of the transaction. Intuit says the Lacerte buy brings it is a highly-regarded provider of professional tax preparation software, electronic filing services, educational seminars and self-study tutorials used by accountants and tax preparers. Intuit is also counting on Lacerte to immediately contribute strong revenue and profits. It says the Lacerte software is substantially different from its own professional tax preparation software and it will continue giving tax preparers a choice between the two distinct products. The acquisition has been approved by the boards of both companies and by the shareholders of Lacerte and is expected to close some time during the summer. Separately on Monday, Intuit reported a third-quarter net loss of $2.2m on revenue up 4.2% at $142m, compared to net income of $488,000 a year ago. Nine-month net income was $26.9m on revenue down 5.8% at $475.5m, against net income of $88.1m last year. Net of one-time items, profits for the quarter would have amounted to $0.20 per share, four cents better than the First Call consensus estimate. Results for the quarter and nine-month periods include a one-time charge of $16.2m stemming from a marketing agreement with America Online Inc. Acquisition charges amounted to $3.4m and $12.2m for the quarter and nine months, respectively. Nine- month results also include a gain of $4.3m from the sale of a business. Year-ago results include similar charges of $10.4m and $31.8m for the quarter and nine months, respectively.
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