Did you hear the roar at the American Tobacco Historic District on Wednesday?

Another exit for a Triangle-born technology company: This time it’s Bronto Software selling for $200 million to NetSuite.

CEO Joe Colopy and his team at Bronto Software loves brontos – they are everywhere in the office; they call their clients “Bronto Nation” – and they let out a “roar” when there’s good news. Bronto reported plenty with the announcement that the company had been sold to NetSuite, a cloud technology services firm, for $200 million.

Bronto will continue to be based in Durham, and its more than 200 employees are to be offered jobs by NetSuite, CEO Zack Nelson said in a conference call. Among those staying are Copoloy and Chaz Felix, the company’s co-founder.

Just a year ago, Bronto hired a general counsel with experience in taking Morrisville-based ChannelAdvisor public. But Bronto ended up taking the acquisition route. Bronto, which launched in 2002 and employs more than 200 people, also has offices in London, Sydney, New York and Los Angeles.

The NetSuite press release begins as follows:

“NetSuite Inc. (NYSE: N), the industry’s leading provider of cloud-based financials / ERP and omnichannel commerce software suites, today announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Bronto Software Inc., a privately-held cloud-based commerce marketing company, in a cash and equity transaction valued at approximately $200 million. This transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2015, subject to certain closing conditions and regulatory clearance.”

The company notes a big reason why it acquired fast-growing Bronto: “As the number one email marketing provider to retailers ranked on the Internet Retailer Top 1000, Bronto Software provides the premiere commerce marketing automation platform used by more than 1,400 brands, including Armani Exchange, Timex and Trek Bikes.”

The deal is the sixth on involving Durham-based companies in the past two years. The other five were Square 1 Bank, Automated Insights, Appia, DigitalSmiths and Two Toasters. All were based at one time at the American Tobacco Historic District. Although the value of all the sales has not been disclosed, the dollar amounts of the Square 1, Appia, DigitalSmiths and Appia total more than $1 billion.

​Here’s how Colopy roared the news in a blog post:

“Hello BrontoNation —

“Exciting news! Our companies have signed a definitive agreement to merge. Our two companies will operate independently until the transaction officially closes, likely in the first half of the year. You can read the official press release here.

The Big Picture

“Today, many of you know Bronto as a leader in marketing automation to retailers and other commerce-driven companies. Since its founding almost thirteen years ago, Bronto has remained deeply committed to helping you drive revenue through email and other channels. It has done that by developing an intuitive commerce marketing automation platform and surrounding it with an amazing team of people — all committed to supporting your revenue goals in a refreshingly approachable and passionate way.

“As we look to the future, we are continuing with Bronto’s winning formula but applying it to a broader vision, and on a larger stage. We are going to rethink not only commerce marketing but also commerce. This entails deeply integrating digital messaging channels like email, mobile and social with the transactions that happen through the digital shopping cart, in-store point-of-sale, and call center. It also involves tying them into backend processes like order management, inventory management, and global tax in order to offer an unparalleled personalized and seamless experience for commerce marketers and their customers. This moves omnichannel from being a buzzword to a true reality — a reality that is possible when industry leaders like Bronto and NetSuite come together to provide something truly innovative.

“The Next Chapter

“After the transaction closes, Bronto will operate as an independent business unit of NetSuite. It will continue to innovate on its platform, integrate with other ecommerce platforms, and deliver the same top-notch services that you have grown to know and love over the years. Bronto’s leadership team will continue to guide the organization. The account management team, services teams, product teams, and other teams will continue to report to the same leadership and focus on the same mission. And, of course, Bronto will continue to spread its obsession with a particular type of green dinosaur.

“What will be different is the scale and speed that Bronto can now execute as part of NetSuite. Bronto will be part of a multi-billion dollar company with an ability and willingness to invest in its growth. As you might know, publicly traded NetSuite (NYSE: N) is one of the largest cloud application companies in the world with more than 24,000 customer organizations using its products. While widely known for it’s industry-leading ERP solutions, NetSuite is also a leader in omnichannel commerce. More than 3000 companies, including many existing Bronto customers, use NetSuite to deliver a complete solution for omnichannel commerce. This merger is about furthering that strategic direction.”

Read the full blogpost at: http://blogs.bronto.com/news/bronto-software-and-netsuite-to-join-forces/