Pitney Bowes (NYSE: PBI) is acquiring Israeli e-commerce company Borderfree Inc. (Nasdaq: BRDR) for $395 million. This is nearly double the company's closing share price of $6.79 on Nasdaq last night, which gave a market cap of $217 million. In after-hours trading the share more than doubled to $13.72.
Borderfree had $125 million revenue in 2014 and has 250 employees at its New York City headquarters and development office in Tel Aviv.
Borderfree was founded in 1999 by Yuval Tal in Israel under the name FiftyOne, as a forex conversion site for retailers. It subsequently expanded its business to become the leader in its field, offering worldwide e-commerce for American retailers. The company raised $80 million in its Nasdaq IPO in March 2013. The IPO reduced the stake of Pitango Venture Capital in the company from 32.8% to 27.4%.
Both boards of directors approved the deal.
Borderfree CEO Michael DeSimone said, "Over the last eight years, we've built Borderfree into a market leader in global ecommerce. We're excited to join forces with Pitney Bowes, a global technology company offering innovative products and solutions that enable commerce globally. Pitney Bowes' technology, commerce and logistics expertise will help accelerate our growth and the ability for our combined businesses to realize our full potential as a leader in the dynamic global ecommerce market."
Pitney Bowes president and CEO Marc B. Lautenbach said, "The combination of Borderfree's cross-border ecommerce capabilities with our own solutions expands our portfolio of offerings and extends our global reach. We've had a long-standing relationship with Borderfree and know the company well. Together, we have a significant opportunity to help our clients expand and grow by providing a comprehensive range of complementary, cross-border ecommerce solutions in the fast-growing global ecommerce marketplace."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 6, 2015
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