Irish ecommerce group ESW in €285m deal for Scalefast

Irish-based ecommerce company ESW, formerly known as eShopWorld, has agreed to acquire Los Angeles-based Scalefast for a sum understood to be in excess of $300 million (€285m).

It is the first acquisition the company has made since it was acquired last year by Asendia.

The deal, which is expected to close by mid-year, will see ESW extend its capabilities, giving it access to new ecommerce markets, and speed up the ability for retailers and brands to get their online stores to market.

Scalefast is an end-to-end ecommerce solution provider offering global ecommerce-as-a-service solutions to brands and allowing them to build online stores more quickly. The acquisition is expected to increase ESW’s strength across clothing, beauty, personal care and luxury brands, and give the company access to entertainment, gaming and electronics markets.

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It will also allow turnkey localised stores, digital “pop up” stores and targeted direct to consumer brand campaigns, using its platform developed in-house, retail infrastructure and proprietary data and behavioural analytics. Scalefast serves customers in more than 200 countries and territories.

Expertise

For Scalefast clients, ESW will provide checkout, payment gateway and logistics offerings for both hub or hubless options across all channels and access to global logistics partners.

That combined expertise is expected to drive growth in revenue and product innovation for both companies.

"ESW's acquisition of Scalefast demonstrates our commitment and ambition to accelerate growth for our customers by empowering them to be at the forefront of rapidly evolving consumer requirements around the world," said Tommy Kelly, founder and chief executive, ESW.

“Scalefast’s technology offering is highly complementary and will enable ESW to unleash new capabilities and deliver even faster direct-to-consumer ecommerce growth for new and existing clients.”

As part of the deal, Scalefast's founders Nicolas Stehle, Frédéric Bocquet and Olivier Schott will join ESW as part of its senior leadership team, with the combined workforce of both companies to exceed 1,000.

Integrated

“Scalefast’s services are highly synergistic with ESW’s from a revenue generation perspective,” said Mr Stehle, currently chief executive of Scalefast. “We are excited by this opportunity to join in a bold vision for the future of direct-to-consumer ecommerce.

“Scalefast and ESW’s blended knowledge, expertise, and technology will provide distinct competitive advantages as a fully integrated technology-driven commerce service provider.”

Headquartered in Dublin, ESW currently has more than 650 staff, with offices in the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Hong Kong and Singapore.

In 2021, Asendia, a joint venture between La Poste group and Swiss Post, acquired the remaining stake in ESW it did not already own for an undisclosed sum. The deal valued the company at over €1 billion.

Rumours about a possible stock market listing for ESW have persisted in recent months.