MetaPack has 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 a successful year for MetaPack which has 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 help Stamps.com to achieve its ambitious 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 eCommerce customers”
“The acquisition of MetaPack represents a significant strategic investment in our global eCommerce 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.
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