Enterprise SaaS companies are in shopping mode following an incredible year for growth in cloud services, and Okta announced Wednesday that it has agreed to purchase Auth0 for $6.5 billion in stock.
Okta, which helps companies verify and manage employee login data, saw its stock more than double last year amid a wave of IT modernization brought on by the pandemic. Auth0 had raised $332 million for a similar product that helps companies build identity management and log-in features into their own applications.
"Both (Auth0 CEO) Eugenio (Pace) and I have devoted our careers to identity because we know that selecting an identity platform is one of the most critical technology investments an organization can make," said Todd McKinnon, CEO of Okta, in a blog post announcing the acquisition. The deal is expected to close by the end of July, and was announced alongside fourth-quarter earnings results that saw a 40% jump in revenue.