![]() ![]() While Pitney Bowes supports some of the largest retailers with shipping solutions, the only way it reaches smaller sellers is through its support of online marketplaces. Pitney Bowes spokesperson Daniel Burris said pbSmartPostage is designed for the small to medium volume office shipping environment and is scalable for multi-location applications – it is not targeted at the consumer market. And technically, companies can integrate with the USPS directly rather than using a service like and Endicia by using the USPS’s Postal Explorer, though it appears that is not a popular option. USPS also offers Click N Ship online postage on its own website, but it doesn’t provide the advanced features available through the other providers. USPS spokesperson Dave Partenheimer confirmed that Endicia,, and Pitney Bowes are the only companies that provide online postage (aka PC Postage Providers). said it also competed with Pitney Bowes (which offers pbSmart Postage – not popular with small online sellers) and eBay (which is powered by Pitney Bowes). As a result of the different focuses of the two companies, the average annual volume per customer for Endicia is significantly higher than that of .” “The profile of the top customers of the companies are very different, with nearly all of ’s top customers in the enterprise mailing area, and all of Endicia’s top customers in the high volume shipping area. In its announcement of the deal in March, positioned the companies as focusing on different segments of the internet mailing and shipping market, with minimal customer overlap. Apparently some sellers fear that post-acquisition, could choose to migrate all sellers onto one platform. The prevailing opinion expressed by sellers on industry discussion boards was that they didn’t want to be forced to change providers after the acquisition. Readers who left comments in an EcommerceBytes blog post about the proposed acquisition in March who used either or Endicia said they hoped the deal would result in no changes to the service they used. Both offer plans to online sellers that start at $15.99/month, offering USPS Commercial pricing, which are discounted rates that the US Postal Service makes available to those printing postage online. In addition to serving other markets, both and Endicia provide USPS PC Postage solutions popular with online sellers to streamline postage, shipping, and tracking tasks, especially those selling across multiple channels. ![]() The government has 30 days to make decision or to make a request for more information – more information about the process is available on the FTC website. That includes the documents that the companies’ officers and directors looked at when evaluating the transaction. ![]() While the HSR pre-merger notification form is only 8 pages, companies typically turn in a lot of documents (boxes and boxes). Is the merger harmful to consumers – would they pay a higher price, or not have as many to buy, or would the products or services be of lower quality? While pricing is key, they also look at whether output or quality would suffer. He explained that when the DOJ and FTC conduct pre-merger reviews to determine if the merger harms competition, they look at many things, including documents from the parties and interviews with customers, experts, and competitors. Steven Cernak is of counsel at the law firm Schiff Hardin and is a member of the firm’s Antitrust and Trade Regulation team. Less well known is that last year, the two were drawn into legal conflict once again in a matter related to a separate acquisition. The two companies are well known USPS PC Postage providers that offer solutions to shippers and mailers, including online merchants, and they have a history of conflict over patent ownership – in 2012, Investor’s Business Daily wrote, “Since 2006, the companies have been suing and countersuing each other regularly.” The article covered the news that the two companies had agreed to a 5-year truce on patent litigation. The pre-merger review process is set up so that the US DOJ and the Federal Trade Commission can determine whether acquiring and acquired firms are competitors, or are related in any other way such that a combination of the two firms might adversely affect competition. CEO Ken McBride said during the company’s recent quarterly earnings call, “We are currently in the regulatory review process with the Department of Justice and the timing of that process remains uncertain.” revealed that its planned acquisition of Endicia is still proceeding through the Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust review process. ![]()
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