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Microsoft Buys Software List Company 6Wunderkinder
Microsoft purchased software list maker 6Wunderkinder GmbH for an amount ranging between $100 million and $200 million.
The deal, reported today in an article published in The Wall Street Journal, was unconfirmed by either Microsoft or 6Wunderkinder. The Journal article cited "a person familiar with the deal," but the source wasn't named and there's no announcement.
Update: today (6/2), Microsoft and 6Wunderkinder confirmed the acquisition deal. Nothing changes for current Wunderlist users, according to Microsoft's announcement:
Customers can expect the app to remain free in all of its existing markets. There will be no price changes for Wunderlist Pro or Wunderlist for Business customers and the service will continue to support a wide range of third-party apps and integrated services.
6Wunderkinder is a Berlin startup company that produces Wunderlist Pro and Wunderlist for Business software products. The Wunderlist for Business app integrates with applications, adding a plus symbol to the bottom of an app that lets users build to-do lists and assign tasks to team members. The product works on Android, iOS and Windows platforms.
The Journal article speculated that Microsoft's purchase of 6Wunderkinder will add to its Office mobile app integration work, much like its recent Acompli and Sunrise Atelier purchases. Microsoft announced the purchase of Acompli earlier this year, using its technology to create Outlook e-mail apps that work across various mobile operating system platforms. It later snapped up Sunrise Atelier to integrate its calendar technology into Microsoft Outlook mobile apps.
6Wunderkinder and Sunrise Atelier had announced an integration effort back in May, as noted by the Journal article. That effort enabled Wunderlist apps to surface inside Sunrise's calendar apps.
Christian Reber, founder and CEO of 6Wunderkinder, said back in February that users of the Wunderlist app were creating "10 million to-dos" every week and that there were "more than 90,000 teams using Wunderlist" in an "11-million strong community." He added that the company was planning to release Wunderlist apps for Android Lollipop and Windows 10 this year, as well as a new Wunderlist for Work product with business features, such as "activity logs, business-owned lists, a central dashboard, rights management and custom webhooks."
The Journal article indicated that the 6Wunderkinder team will remain located in Berlin under the terms of the deal.
About the Author
Kurt Mackie is senior news producer for 1105 Media's Converge360 group.