(Bloomberg) — Stamps.com Inc., the online postage company, has agreed to be acquired for $6.6 billion in cash by private equity firm Thoma Bravo.
The purchase price of $330 a share is a 67% premium to Stamps.com’s Thursday closing price, the companies said in a statement Friday. The stock had stalled so far this year, with a 0.8% gain, but surged 135% last year.
Stamps.com shares jumped as much as 64% to $323.62 in New York trading Friday.
The deal includes a 40-day “go-shop” agreement allowing Stamps.com to seek a higher offer, the companies said.
Thoma Bravo has carved out a niche within the buyout industry, focusing on cloud software businesses that draw steady, recurring sales in the form of subscriptions. The firm makes light-touch operational tweaks to the companies it acquires, usually keeping existing management in place and concentrating on growth rather than cost-cutting.
Along those lines, the companies touted the experience of Stamps.com’s management team in Friday’s statement. The e-commerce company, a pioneer in digital postage, will remain based in El Segundo, California.
J.P. Morgan Securities and law firm Proskauer Rose advised Stamps.com, while Kirkland & Ellis gave legal advice to Thoma Bravo. Paul Hastings LLP advised Blackstone Credit, Ares Management Corp. and PSP Investments Credit II USA on the debt financing for the deal.
(Updates with shares in third paragraph.)
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