Stamps.com closes acquisition of online postage vendor Endicia

Online postage provider Stamps.com Inc. has completed its acquisition of Endicia, an electronic postage software firm, for $215 million, the companies announced Wednesday.

El Segundo, Calif.,-based Stamps.com first announced the plan in March, when Newell Rubbermaid Inc. decided to simplify its portfolio by shedding Endicia.

Newell Rubbermaid markets a $5.7 billion stable of consumer and commercial products, including the well-known Rubbermaid plastic kitchen products, as well as brand names such as Sharpie, Paper Mate, Elmer's, Calphalon, and Graco.

"We believe Endicia, while not core to our strategy, is a great strategic fit with an owner who shares its commitment to innovating and competing in the mailing and shipping industry," Newell Rubbermaid president and CEO Michael Polk said in a statement this week.

Endicia, of Mountain View, Calif., works as a partner of the U.S. Postal Service by providing online postage, mailing, and shipping solutions for business customers such as online sellers, warehouse shippers, and home and office mailers.

The company's shipping and mailing software allows users to print live postage, integrate mailing and return addresses, track packages, add graphics and logos to shipping labels, and arrange pickup times so they can skip trips to the post office.

Endicia's business model aligns closely with that of Stamps.com, which provides Internet-based postage services designed to enable small businesses, enterprises, and online retailers to print U.S. Postal Service-approved postage with a generic office printer.

Stamps.com says its software can dovetail those shipping services into an existing warehouse workflow by integrating with a user's e-commerce platform, warehouse management system (WMS), transportation management system (TMS), or enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform.