AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MarketLive Inc. and Shopatron, leading providers of software solutions for the global retail industry, today jointly announced that the companies will be acquired simultaneously by Vista Equity Partners (“Vista”), a leading private equity firm that focuses on investing in software, data and technology-enabled companies.
“This is a unique opportunity to unite two complementary market leaders to advance the way that retailers and branded manufacturers connect with consumers in a world that relies on seamless digital and in-store experiences,” said Robert F. Smith, Chairman and CEO of Vista Equity Partners. “By integrating best-of-breed commerce solutions and combining industry-leading expertise, MarketLive and Shopatron are incredibly well-positioned to bring a highly adaptive omni-channel commerce platform to the rapidly expanding retail market.”
MarketLive provides digital commerce software and services for retailers, catalogers, direct marketers and manufacturers. The company’s flagship platform offers a responsive and user-friendly interface, shopping carts that sync across devices, a dynamic pricing engine, and customer segmentation and personalization. MarketLive integrates with a wide variety of partners, such as PayPal and McAfee, in order to deliver all of the functionality required to operate an effective e-commerce business.
“We are thrilled to team with Shopatron and Vista to expand our solutions as we continue to serve the needs of our customers in an evolving industry,” said Ken Burke, Founder and CEO of MarketLive. “Shoppers expect a seamless and dynamic integration between online and offline experiences, which can be an enormous challenge for retailers. We are pleased to be joining forces with two world-class organizations so we can be better positioned to help sellers overcome those challenges and deliver the best possible shopping experience.”
Shopatron is the world’s leading provider of cloud-based, distributed order management solutions. Shopatron enables manufacturers and multi-channel retailers to seamlessly leverage the available inventory of every retail storefront and distribution center when fulfilling online orders. Unlike legacy order management software or custom-built solutions, Shopatron makes it easy and affordable to deploy advanced capabilities like in-store pickup, ship-from-store, inventory lookup and vendor drop-ship. With Shopatron, retail channels join forces to increase sales, turn inventory, and deliver a superior purchase experience to online shoppers.
“We are excited about the incredible possibilities this combination offers, both for our partner ecosystem and, more importantly, for our customers,” said Ed Stevens, Founder and CEO of Shopatron. “MarketLive’s solutions are a great complement to ours, and together, we will deliver optimized, omni-channel shopping experiences that delight end-users and improve business outcomes for sellers.”
“Shopatron and MarketLive have established themselves as leaders in the global retail space, giving their customers innovative, easy-to-use tools for overcoming modern retailing challenges,” said Patrick Severson, Principal at Vista Equity Partners. “Vista has a proven track record of bringing together businesses to create market leaders, and we look forward to collaborating with both companies to optimize their solutions and drive growth for sellers while delivering the best-in-class experiences for shoppers around the world.”
In the midst of peak season, both MarketLive and Shopatron continue to be focused on maintaining best-in-class service and performance for their customers. Both transactions are slated to close by year end, and the companies plan to explore integration and expansion plans in 2016.
About MarketLive
Since 1995, MarketLive has been the leading provider of eCommerce technology and services that help fast-growing companies successfully sell goods and services online. Designed to meet the unique requirements of catalogers, retailers, direct marketers, and manufacturers, the extensible MarketLive Customer Driven Commerce technology and services solution integrates commerce across all channels, enabling merchants to enhance their customers’ experience online while dramatically improving acquisition, conversion, and retention rates.
About Shopatron
Shopatron is the world’s leading SaaS platform for distributed order management, enabling enterprise retailers and branded manufacturers worldwide to quickly deploy and evolve dynamic, omnichannel fulfillment models that delight customers and drive profitable growth. With the retail industry’s only truly open, multi-tenant SaaS architecture for distributed order management, Shopatron is redefining standards of shopper convenience at a dramatically lower cost than with licensed software. Over 1,000 retailers and brands around the globe use Shopatron every day to optimize inventory performance, save sales, and increase enterprise profitability.
About Vista Equity Partners
Vista Equity Partners is a U.S.-based investment firm with offices in Austin, Chicago and San Francisco, with more than $14 billion in cumulative capital commitments. It currently invests in software, data and technology-based organizations led by world-class management teams with long-term perspective. Vista is a value-added investor, contributing professional expertise and multi-level support that enables companies to realize their full potential. Vista’s investment approach is anchored by a sizable long-term capital base, experience in structuring technology-oriented transactions and proven management techniques that yield flexibility and opportunity in private equity investing. For more information, please visit vistaequitypartners.com.
