Ascential Buys eCommerce Firm Intrepid to Expand to SE Asia

eCommerce optimization platform Ascential announced Friday (July 1) that it had acquired Intrepid eCommerce Services, which works with brands in Southeast Asia, in a deal worth up to $250 million.

According to a news release, Singapore-based Intrepid provides eCommerce execution for brands such as Shopee and Lazada.

“Intrepid provides an entry point for our Digital Commerce business into the fast-growing Southeast Asian marketplaces, expanding its global footprint in this important region for eCommerce,” the company said in the release. “Our clients are always searching for ways to access the next billion consumers and Southeast Asia eCommerce provides a clear pathway to them over time.”

Ascential said the acquisition is for an initial cash consideration of $57 million, along with deferred consideration payable over four years of between $100 million and $197 million, assuming certain financial targets are met. The maximum total consideration for the company is $250 million.

“Intrepid’s strong presence in South East Asia, alongside its proven expertise operating across the major marketplaces in this important region, further enhances the capabilities and global reach of our digital commerce business,” said Acential CEO Duncan Painter.

Read more: Merchants’ Local Payment Options Lag Rise in Global eCommerce Shopping

Earlier this week, PYMNTS reported on a partnership between Citcon and Bold Commerce that combines the Citcon payments application programming with the Bold Commerce headless checkout platform to improve conversions and lower costs for online sellers in foreign markets.

Citcon President and CEO Wei Jiang told PYMNTS the partnership grew from the fact that both companies “noticed a few things as this trend is happening.”

Consumers aren’t hemmed in by geography anymore, Jiang said, and merchants want the ability to take payments anywhere. The challenge is that this ecosystem has traditionally been the domain of major payment card networks and North American eCommerce retailers.

“When they expanded globally, they probably assumed that the payment ecosystem is the same everywhere, but that’s not true,” Jiang said. “We know that when you go to APAC, when you go to Latin America, even parts of Europe, the card penetration rate is very low.”