Lithium To Acquire Social Influence Scoring Site Klout For $200M

Social customer service company Lithium Technologies will announce on Thursday morning that it has acquired Klout for almost $200 million in cash and private stock, says Fortune.

Re/code first reported last month that Lithium and Klout, which scores influence on social networks, were nearing a deal.

Lithium, which is expected to make its initial public offering later this year, announced in September 2013 that it had raised $50 million in “pre-IPO mezzanine financing” to develop its tech platform and expand its sales and marketing. This brought its total raised to $142 million.

Klout has raised more than $40 million in funding from investors, including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Mayfield Fund, ff Venture Capital, Microsoft, and CrunchFund (which, like TechCrunch, was founded by Michael Arrington).

Last month, the company revamped its site with tools meant to help people improve their scores by posting more engaging content on their social media accounts. Though it had trouble monetizing in the past, Klout claimed to be making revenue in the “double digit millions” for the first time last year.

Update: Lithium and Klout confirmed the deal.