Stamps.com rebrands as Auctane to meet broader e-commerce needs
Change is latest move since company was acquired in $6.6 billion private equity deal.
E-commerce shipping solution provider Stamps.com will change its name to “Auctane,” marking its latest evolution in a flurry of activity since it was acquired by a private equity firm and replaced its CEO.
The El Segundo, California-based firm said the change reflects its increasingly diversified portfolio of shipping and logistics technologies. In recent years, the company has acquired the British e-commerce delivery technology vendor MetaPack and the electronic postage software firm Endicia. Additional units of the company include GlobalPost, Shipsi, and Shipbot.
In fact, its new name also comes from one of its units. Until today, Austin, Texas-based e-commerce company Auctane defined itself as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Stamps.com. Auctane itself was also the holder of the e-commerce shipping tech firms ShipStation, ShippingEasy, ShipEngine, and ShipWorks
After private equity firm Thoma Bravo LLC announced a deal in July to acquire Stamps.com for $6.6 billion, it has moved to consolidate that sprawling portfolio. Just a month after the firm’s shareholders approved the takeover bid, Stamps.com replaced its top executive, naming senior internal executive Nathan Jones to succeed 22-year company veteran Ken McBride.
“Our brands have been powering professional mailers and shippers across the globe for nearly 20 years,” Auctane CEO Jones said in a release. “We’ve changed our name to Auctane to formally recognize the growth and impact of our industry-leading e-commerce solutions around the globe. With these products we’re committed to helping all merchants — wherever they sell and however they ship — be exceptionally efficient at fulfilling orders and delighting their customers.”
Despite the changes, Jones said the company’s mission is still to use innovative technology and workflows to power exceptional efficiency for every seller, shipper, and mailer around the globe. But in the company’s new era, that approach will migrate to meet new challenges.
“The future of commerce lies in enabling and expanding consumer choices. With creative solutions and technology, we see a future in which businesses and sellers of any size can offer original products to customers around the globe while navigating complex logistic channels with ease,” Jones said in a blog post.
That strategy reflects the e-commerce changes that have occurred since inventory was once limited largely to local brick-and-mortar stores and shipping services from the United States Postal Service.
“While Stamps.com remains a growing product with incredible impact, over time, our other products have become market leaders as well. Our e-commerce focused products, including ShipStation, ShipEngine, Metapack, and ShippingEasy, have become household names in commerce around the globe. With our increased impact, the Stamps.com name is no longer a broad enough umbrella to fully encompass our mission,” Jones said in the blog. “This is why we’ve changed our name to Auctane.”
