Credit: Dreamstime
Online business technology retailer, eStore.com.au has been acquired by online retail business, Shoply.
The acquisition price includes an upfront $500,000 cash payment plus $250,000 in Shoply shares. The variable component will be an amount of up to $1.05 million in Shoply shares that will be paid progressively subject to eStore meeting performance hurdles in the next 24 months.
The acquisition will build on Shoply’s current technology offering through its Warcom business.
“This is a highly synergistic acquisition. The business is very complementary to our Warcom business and will allow us to increase our depth in this market to become a much stronger player,” Shoply CEO, Simon Crean, said. “This segment of the market presents an exciting opportunity for growth with growing demand for technology upgrades required by the ever-increasing technology requirements of organisations, as well as the reinvestment driven by the roll out of the NBN.”
eStore was founded in 1991 by Lorenzo Coppa. It has delivered to more than 100,000 small business and home user customers in the last three years with an active mailing database of more than 64,000 customers and features 25,000 products online. It also has a dedicated call centre to deal with customer queries and returns.
All eStore staff will be maintained.
eStore’s key product offerings include software, networking, mobile computing, PCs, printing solutions and consumables.
“Aligning eStore with the Warcom business will enable Shoply to leverage synergies from both businesses through operating efficiencies and added market strength,” Coppa said. “eStore has built deep and broad supply relationships from which Shoply expects to benefit. I am very excited by the opportunities that will arise through the combined group and capitalising on the growth dynamics in the office technology market.”
Coppa has been invited to join the board of Shoply and would add 23 years of multichannel retail experience to the board.
With the acquisition in tow, Shoply forecasts its revenue base to reach $25 million in the 2016 financial year.
