Stamps.com Monday acquired
leading Net shipping companyiShip.com
in a deal valued at approximately $300 million.
The deal makes Stamps.com (STMP)
the first online service to offer small business and corporate enterprise
customers a sole source for mailing and shipping needs.
Now clients have one-stop access to mailing, shipping and tracking services
with the combination of iShip’s multi-carrier shipping technology and
Stamps.com’s Net postage service.
Stamps.com will fork over 8 million shares of its stock for
all outstanding shares, options and warrants of iShip. iShip brings an
impressive clientele list to the table, including eBay (EBAY), Intel (INTC)
and Mail Boxes, Etc (MBE).
“This acquisition will revolutionize the way mailing and shipping services
are offered,” said Stamps.com Chief Financial Officer John
Payne.”Eighty-five percent of all e-commerce packages are shipped through
the U.S. Postal Service and UPS.”
Last week, Stamps.com and America Online
Inc. (AOL)
struck a three-year deal that will make Stamps.com the exclusive provider
of Internet postage across the AOL network.
Also last week, Stamps.com launched its online postage service, enabling
consumers to print usable postage from their homes and businesses using only a computer, printer and Net connection.
