Squarespace is selling Tock, its restaurant reservation service, to American Express in a deal worth $400 million, the same amount the company paid for Tock three years ago. Separately, AmEx is acquiring Rooam, a mobile payments and ordering platform that integrates with point-of-sale systems, although the terms of that deal were not disclosed.
The news comes a month after private equity firm Permira announced plans to acquire Squarespace for $6.9 billion, a deal expected to close in Q4 2024. Tock, founded in 2014, targets the hospitality industry with reservation and event management tools, focusing on restaurants looking to integrate table management and booking services.
Squarespace acquired Tock in 2021, shortly before going public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The move was seen as synergistic with its main website building offering, allowing restaurants to develop their online visibility and build services around it. However, Squarespace’s decision to divest Tock before its own acquisition is concluded suggests the company sees Tock as surplus to requirements, and the $400 million windfall will enable it to refocus on its core website building business for small and medium-sized businesses.
