Singapore Post today announced its second major acquisition within a week with a deal to buy US-based TradeGlobal for nearly $169 million to further extend its worldwide e-commerce logistics network.
The postal group is acquiring 96.3% of TradeGlobal Holdings, Inc (“TradeGlobal”) from a holding company owned by private equity firm Bregal Sagemount for US$168.6 million. On October 9, SingPost announced it would buy 71.1% in US-based Jagged Peak, which had revenues of approximately US$61.7 million in 2014, for US$15.8 million.
TradeGlobal, founded in 2001 and whose revenues were not disclosed, is one of the top five end-to-end e-commerce players in the U.S. that offers a full spectrum of e-commerce services from website design, content management, marketing and analytics, to fulfilment and logistics. Their clients include leading brands in the fashion, beauty and lifestyle markets, such as Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss, Tommy Hilfiger, Puma and Versace.
SingPost said the combination “creates a one-stop global solution” and will give it a competitive edge in the e-commerce market. Following the transaction, SingPost’s clients in Asia Pacific can now expand their businesses into the U.S. Likewise, TradeGlobal’s clients will have access to the fast growing e-commerce landscape in Asia Pacific. As their e-commerce platforms and warehouse networks are complementary, their clients can expect to leverage integrated technology and fulfilment capabilities.
Lim Ho Kee, Chairman of SingPost, said: “Our investment in TradeGlobal makes sense for us in many ways. Together with TradeGlobal, SingPost can establish stronger market leadership and have a larger talent pool to drive a global e-commerce strategy. We will also be looking at a larger and deeper footprint. Increasingly, we need to take a ‘one world’ approach towards e-commerce.”
Marcelo Wesseler, Chief Executive Officer, SingPost e-commerce, added: “Full service e-commerce solutions have traditionally been geographically confined. This acquisition will offer a one stop solution for brands to grow their businesses globally. Using localised capabilities in the two largest e-commerce markets, Asia Pacific and North America, brands will also be able to provide their customers with a seamless shopping experience. This acquisition strengthens our e-commerce logistics platform by enhancing our scalability and capabilities, for instance to handle major surges in traffic and transactions during peak shopping seasons.”
The founders of TradeGlobal, Dave Cook, Executive Chairman, and Dave Eckley, Chief Executive Officer, will continue in their current positions as executives and shareholders. Cook commented: “We are excited about the synergies between TradeGlobal and SingPost. The combination of the two companies will enhance our capabilities to build a powerful global e-commerce platform enabling our customers to expand internationally.”
Lim added: “We found that both management teams share the same vision and similar values. The focus is on how to best serve clients innovatively and have a common goal of offering best-in-class e-commerce solutions for global brands. TradeGlobal serves more than 60 leading brands with very strong presence in the U.S. SingPost, on the other hand, has built our network extensively across Asia Pacific and Europe. Our acquisition of TradeGlobal will further accelerate SingPost’s transformation, which began more than a decade ago to survive the steep decline of letter mail.”
