Lightspeed To Buy ShopKeep For $440M To Advance POS

Omnichannel commerce platform Lightspeed is acquiring point-of-sale (POS) firm ShopKeep in a move to advance digital transformation as the pandemic accelerates changes to the buying and selling landscape, according to a press release.

Lightspeed will buy ShopKeep for approximately $440 million, satisfied via payment on closing of $145.2 million in cash and the issuance of 9.5 million subordinate voting shares in Lightspeed capital, the release stated. The deal is expected to close by the end of this year.

“ShopKeep’s commitment to enabling independent businesses to dream big and rise above industry and economic challenges is deeply aligned with our own mission to power the future of commerce,” Dax Dasilva, founder and CEO of Lightspeed, said in the release. “This acquisition will bring ShopKeep merchants, small- and medium-sized businesses [SMBs] that make up the backbone of the U.S economy, into the Lightspeed family, providing them even more crucial product innovation and world-class support as they drive the reinvention of American commerce.”

ShopKeep’s POS platforms are used by more than 20,000 retailers and restaurants across the country, with an annual gross transaction value of $7 billion, according to the release. The acquisition by Lightspeed will expand and enhance the offerings of solutions for merchants, adding tools for complex inventory and multi-location sales, the company said.

“We believe uniting with Lightspeed highlights and amplifies our shared vision to deliver industry-leading commerce enablement for small- and medium-sized businesses,” ShopKeep CEO Michael DeSimone said in the release. “Our partnership sets the stage to help business owners navigate through challenging times, keep pace with rapid change and adapt quickly to meet the rising demands of today’s customers.”

In separate news, Lightspeed partnered with the payments platform Stripe in February to promote in-store and online payments. Lightspeed incorporated new tools in order to facilitate payments and store-branded readers.

“Stripe offers enterprise-grade infrastructure that puts our customers on the cutting edge of modern payments technology,” said Dasilva said at the time.