Purchase sets stage for strategic international expansion
LONDON – 25 July, 2018– Metapack, the global leader in e-commerce delivery technology, has today announced that it has reached an agreement with Stamps.com Inc., the leading provider of postage online and shipping software solutions, to sell the business in a deal worth approximately £175 million.
The sale follows another highly successful year for Metapack with the management team driving continued high growth in the UK and continental Europe. This has now taken the business from a loss-making position into sustained profitability.
Following the sale, Metapack will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Stamps.com and will be instrumental in helping Stamps.com to achieve its ambitious and exciting international aspirations. To date Stamps.com has been focused on the development of its core US-based market, but with the purchase of Metapack, its strategy will be expanded to maximise Metapack’s strong international footprint.
The two companies are highly complementary. The success of Stamps.com postage online and shipping software products in the SME market combined with the market-leading position of Metapack’s platform in the retail enterprise space is expected to result in a wide number of cooperative opportunities for the combined business and enhanced services for customers of both organisations.
In the short term, Stamps.com expects Metapack to operate autonomously with day to day operations continuing as normal. No changes to the management team are being made and there will be no platform impact on peak stability or uptime. Longer term, the company expects to invest in the platform to continue developing Metapack’s customer proposition.
“This is a hugely exciting development for Metapack,” said Steve Rowley, Executive Chairman. “The acquisition by Stamps.com is highly complementary and enables us to broaden our proposition and enhance our global label library. It gives us the degree of scale and support that we need to service global e-commerce customers. The transaction is testament to the entire team at Metapack who have demonstrated outstanding loyalty and hard work, particularly in driving European growth and helping us return the business to profitability. Their skills were a crucial element in this acquisition.”
Patrick Wall, Metapack Founder commented, “This announcement is excellent news for our customers, partners and employees. We’re very proud to become part of the wider Stamps.com group and in so doing, offer our customers continuity, greater product depth and an even stronger global proposition. e-commerce will continue to drive huge change in retailing and Metapack is now best positioned to meet market needs all over the world. I’ve no doubt the best years are still to come.”
“The acquisition of Metapack represents a significant strategic investment in our global e-commerce shipping business,” said Ken McBride, Stamps.com chairman and CEO. “Metapack is the leading enterprise-level multi-carrier e-commerce software platform supporting the world’s largest retailers and the world’s best known brands. Metapack has significant business in Europe, complementing Stamps.com’s strong position in the U.S. Metapack also serves the largest enterprises and retailers, complementing Stamps.com’s traditional focus on smaller businesses. Together, the two companies will be better able to provide innovative solutions in an increasingly global e-commerce world to customers of all sizes and in all geographies.”
Metapack was advised on the transaction by Evercore.
About Metapack
Founded in 1999, Metapack helps e-commerce and delivery professionals to meet with the consumer’s growing expectations of delivery, whilst maintaining and optimising operational efficiency. Metapack’s SaaS solution offers a wide range of personalised delivery services, from global order tracking to simplified return procedures, through a catalogue of 450 carriers and 5,000 services available that span every country in the world. Thanks to Metapack, more than 550 million packages are sent annually by many of the world’s leading e-commerce retailers.
About Stamps.com
Stamps.com (Nasdaq: STMP) is the leading provider of postage online and shipping software solutions to over 725 thousand customers, including consumers, small businesses, e-commerce shippers, enterprises, and high volume shippers. Stamps.com offers solutions that help businesses run their shipping operations more smoothly and function more successfully under the brand names Stamps.com, Endicia, ShipStation, ShipWorks and ShippingEasy. Stamps.com’s family of brands provides seamless access to mailing and shipping services through integrations with more than 500 unique partner applications.
Metapack media contact
Lorena Duke
Ascendant Communications
+44 (0) 7719 863333