GlobeNewswire Inc | Mar 30, 2021 09:09AM EDT

March 30, 2021

DALLAS, March 30, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avantax, the wealth management business of Blucora, Inc. (NASDAQ: BCOR), a leading provider of technology-enabled, tax-focused financial solutions, has acquired GuideVine Technologies, Inc. (GuideVine) and its proven lead-generation and marketing platform. Launched in 2014, GuideVine has been used by financial professionals as a tool for converting interested prospects into clients.

Avantax plans to integrate GuideVine into its already powerful suite of tools and technology, where GuideVine technology can support the marketing needs of Avantax Wealth Management Financial Professionals.

GuideVine technology will help our Financial Professionals introduce their capabilities and expertise to a much wider pool of prospective new clients. This acquisition reflects our commitment to using technology to support our Financial Professionals and the growth of their firms by bringing them another advantage in a highly competitive market, said Avantax Wealth Management President Todd Mackay. Adding GuideVines technology will help Avantax streamline lead-generation and client conversion for our Financial Professionals so they can pursue organic growth while serving existing clients.

GuideVines technology focuses on converting general consumer interest into motivated, qualified prospects. The platform employs multiple customizable techniques to match prospective clients with Avantaxs tax-focused Financial Professionals, for whom lead generation and marketing is a time-consuming and difficult process.

Since launching in 2014, GuideVine technology has been used by hundreds of financial services firms and more than half a million consumers who were searching for a financial services expert.

Integrating GuideVine into Blucoras technology platform is an example of how we are investing in technologies that scale powerful methodologies to match our Financial Professionals expertise with consumers needs, said Blucora President and CEO Chris Walters. We are committed to continue to support the growth of our Financial Professionals with additional sophisticated marketing approaches, and we believe that GuideVines considerable capabilities will help connect our Financial Professionals with a larger pool of prospective new clients.

About Avantax Wealth ManagementAvantax Wealth Management, which comprises the Wealth Management business of Blucora, Inc. (NASDAQ: BCOR) offers a tax-advantaged approach for comprehensive financial planning. Through its Tax-Smart approach, Avantax Financial Professionals help clients leverage taxes to create financial growth opportunities. Most financial companies treat taxes as an afterthought, or not at all, even though taxes are one of lifes most complex and costly expenses. Avantax uses technology, tax and wealth management insights to uncover tailored and advantageous opportunities across our clients financial lifecycles to help enable better long-term outcomes. As of Dec. 31, 2020, Avantax Wealth Management had $83 billion in total client assets.

About BlucoraBlucora, Inc. (NASDAQ: BCOR) is on the forefront of financial technology, a provider of data and technology-driven solutions that empower people to improve their financial wellness. Blucora operates in two segments including (i) wealth management, through its Avantax Wealth Management brand, with $83 billion in total client assets as of Dec. 31, 2020, and (ii) tax preparation, through its TaxAct business, a market leader in tax preparation software with approximately 3 million consumer and more than 23,000 professional users in 2020. With integrated tax-focused software and wealth management, Blucora is uniquely positioned to assist our customers in achieving better long-term outcomes via holistic, tax-advantaged solutions. For more information on Blucora, visit www.blucora.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including statements with respect to plans to integrate GuideVine and expected future benefits therefrom. Forward-looking statements provide current expectations of future events based on certain assumptions and include any statement that does not directly relate to any historical or current fact. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as anticipates, believes, plans, expects, future, intends, may, will, would, could, should, estimates, predicts, potential, continues, target, outlook and similar terms and expressions. Actual results may differ significantly from managements expectations due to various risks and uncertainties including those described in the Risk Factors section of the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 filed by Blucora, Inc. (the Company) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) on February 26, 2021. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events, new information or circumstances occurring after the date of this press release.

Important Additional Information and Where to Find It

The Company has filed a definitive proxy statement, an accompanying BLUE proxy card and other relevant documents with the SEC in connection with the solicitation of proxies for the Companys 2021 annual meeting of stockholders. BEFORE MAKING ANY VOTING DECISION, STOCKHOLDERS OF THE COMPANY ARE URGED TO READ THE DEFINITIVE PROXY STATEMENT, INCLUDING ANY AMENDMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTS THERETO, AND ALL RELEVANT DOCUMENTS FILED WITH OR FURNISHED TO THE SEC, BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Investors and stockholders will be able to obtain a copy of the Companys definitive proxy statement and other documents filed by the Company with the SEC free of charge from the SECs website at www.sec.gov. In addition, copies will be available at no charge by selecting SEC Filings under Financial Information in the Investors tab of the Companys website at www.blucora.com.

Contacts:Tony KatsulosAvantax(972) 870-6654pr@avantax.com

Dee LittrellBlucora, Inc. (972) 870-6463IR@blucora.com