Freelancer.com Paid $7.5 M to Acquire Escrow.com
Yesterday, Freelancer.com officially announced that it has acquired Escrow.com. The transaction, valued at $7.5 million USD, is one of the largest ones in the history of the company. According to official sources, the necessary funds will be gathered by selling ordinary shares of the Freelancer business to institutional investors.
In case you're not familiar with this topic, Freelancer.com is one of the biggest freelancing websites in the world with over 15 million users. This website provides great opportunities for those seeking a project to work on as well as for the people seeking to employ the services of a skilled coder, developer, designer, translator, etc. Escrow.com is a company which deals in financial transactions. Basically, it acts as an intermediary where the money for a specified transaction is being kept until both parties are satisfied with the terms of the agreement. Using this kind of service is a great way to ensure that neither the seller/service provider nor the buyer/employer leaves unsatisfied. This acquisition doesn't only mean better financial security for the users of the Freelancer website, but (according to the officials) it could also be a cornerstone for Freelancer.com's entry into the payment space.
What I find really interesting is that Freelancer.com already had an escrow service called Milestone Payments. However, numerous user complaints stated that the service did not release the money in a timely fashion and that the system does not provide sufficient protection from botched projects, so this is most likely why the company decided to acquire Escrow.com.
