Vistaprint Agrees to Acquire Micro Business Digital Marketing Services Provider Webs for $117.5M
Vistaprint N.V. (Nasdaq: VPRT) today announced the companies have entered into a definitive agreement in which Vistaprint will acquire Webs for $117.5 million payable at closing. The consideration will be paid through a combination of cash and restricted shares. This acquisition is in line with Vistaprint's recently announced strategy to be more proactive in its evaluation of acquisition opportunities that will help lay foundations for future growth.
More and more micro businesses are adding digital channels into their overall marketing mix and looking for simple, do-it-yourself solutions. Webs has served over 40 million customers globally since inception in 2001, with millions of active users and over 100,000 paying subscribers. Over 20,000 new users register daily for Webs' suite of products. The company currently monetizes its offerings primarily by providing premium products for which customers pay subscription charges. Calendar year 2011 revenues are forecast to be approximately $9 million. Webs is based in Maryland (USA) and employs approximately 50 full-time employees.
“Webs' suite of products delivers incredible value to micro businesses, helping them to look professional online in order to grow their business,” said Robert Keane, chief executive officer of Vistaprint. “Vistaprint is already successfully delivering digital marketing services to our customer base, with hundreds of thousands of active registered customers and over $50 million in digital subscription revenues last fiscal year. Webs complements this success with a business model based primarily on free products that has achieved impressive customer reach. They are serving millions of users who are exactly the types of micro businesses that Vistaprint targets. The value of this transaction lies primarily in three areas: an increased ability to serve customers via the integration of physical and digital small business identity and marketing, the addition of impressive talent who have an innovative and customer-centric approach to product development, and plans to monetize our mutual customer bases over the long-term via the sale of physical products and premium digital marketing subscriptions.”
