Acquia appoints new CFO to help take the company public<br />May 23, 2014, 9:52am EDT<br /><br />Acquia, a digital services company based in Burlington, announced this week the appointment of former Qlik Technologies executive Bill Sorenson as its new chief finance officer in preparation for the company's initial public offering.<br /><br />Sorenson was previously CFO of Pennsylvania-based software company Qlik Technologies (Nasdaq: QLIK), where he took the company public and helped it grow to $400 million in annual revenue.<br /><br />Sorenson said he will assess all aspects of the company from customer service to billing, hiring and tax issues, in preparation for the company's initial public offering.<br /><br />""We're working to basically grow this company and hopefully make us a segment leader in this space,"" Sorenson said in an interview.<br /><br />Sorenson did not disclose the timeline for the initial public offering, but in a March interview, Acquia CEO Tom Erickson said the company could go public as early as this year.<br /><br />Erickson said the company grew annual revenue by 50 percent to $68 million in 2013. Acquia's revenue was about $45 million in 2012, more than double that of 2011.<br /><br />Acquia provides cloud hosting and related tools and services for websites created using Drupal, a free, open source web development software. Clients include Maxim Magazine, Connecticut-based watch company Timex, Bentley University in Waltham and the Grammy Awards.<br /><br />Acquia has about 420 employees worldwide, and plans to grow headcount by 20 percent this year, Erickson said in a previous interview. About half of those employees are located at its headquarters in Burlington. Other locations include Singapore, Sweden and Germany.<br /><br />The company will be expanding its presence in India this year, nabbing clients in the pharmaceutical and financial services industries, Erickson said.<br /><br />Sorenson will succeed previous CFO Dennis Morgan.<br />