Moving to beef up its small business offerings, Intuit reported that it's acquiring Homestead Technologies for its online tools and services. Intuit said it will purchase Homestead for about $170 million, including restricted stock units and outstanding options.

Intuit has been successfully moving up the financial services food chain into the small and midsize business and enterprise IT areas as its Quicken and Turbo Tax products primarily aimed at individual consumers have increasingly encountered competition.

The acquisition will help Intuit offer Web site creation and online commerce services, Intuit said Monday. Intuit indicated that it aims to fill a sweet spot between inexpensive do-it-yourself services and expensive approaches to developing online presences. "Homestead's solutions offer customers the best of both worlds: personalized do-it-with-assistance setup, and ongoing do-it-yourself management," Intuit said in a statement.

Intuit noted that small businesses are increasingly seeking to establish an effective online presence as more consumers go online to shop.

"The acquisition supports our growth strategy in small business by addressing an underserved need, and continues Intuit's move beyond financial management solutions," said Brad Smith, senior VP of Intuit's small business group, in a statement. "Homestead helps us solve one of small businesses' highest priorities -- attracting customers."

Homestead will join Intuit's small business group after the completion of the acquisition. Justin Kitch, Homestead's founder and CEO, will manage the Homestead team after the merger is complete. Intuit said it expects the transaction to close during the first quarter of 2008.