BuyWithMe buys fellow deal site LocalTwist

The deal expands BuyWithMe's reach to two new key markets

BuyWithMe, one of the top five Groupon clones, has just acquired a Groupon clone of its own. California-based LocalTwist, formerly a division of LifeStreet Media, currently delivers deals to consumers in San Diego and Seattle. The acquisition expands BuyWithMe's U.S. reach to Seattle while firming up its foothold in San Diego. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 2010, LocalTwist is a daily deal site of the group-buying variety. While some daily deal sites like LivingSocial focus on the time-limit angle, LocalTwist--along with BuyWithMe--focuses on the collective buying power angle, meaning deals are only activated once a minimum number of buyers sign up. LocalTwist was created by LifeStreet Media, an ad network on Facebook that specializes in high volume customer acquisition and was recently named one of the top 500 fastest growing private companies by Inc Magazine. 

“LocalTwist accelerates our presence and on the ground footprint in two key markets while further amplifying both our merchant network and consumer reach," said BuyWithMe CEO Jim Crowley in a prepared statement. "As a result, our ability to enable local consumers and merchants to better discover, interact and transact with one another continues to accelerate. We could not be happier about welcoming the LocalTwist community to the BuyWithMe family.” 

BuyWithMe was founded in March 2009 and has raised a total of $21.5 million from Matrix Partners and Bain Capital Ventures.  In July, the New York-based company raised a whopping $16 million, which was used to expand BuyWithMe’s reach to more than two dozen cities throughout the United States.  Earlier this year, the company operated in only five markets, but today it has footholds in 11.

In December, CEO Cheryl Rosner stepped down after being with the company since April 2010.  While Groupon and LivingSocial skyrocketed in 2010, BuyWithMe flatlined and Rosner, former president of Expedia, as well as the president and CEO of TicketsNow before it sold to TicketMaster in 2008, announced in December that she'd be leaving the company. She was replaced by Jim Crowley in January.

Crowley, formerly the CEO of the online gaming company Turbine, and was brought onboard for his experience in scaling rapid growth organizations as well as his knowledge of direct-to-consumer and business-to-business companies.

Image source: LocalTwist.com