Vistaprint Swings $117.5M Deal to Acquire Webs Inc.

VENLO, NETHERLANDS—Vistaprint N.V. has carved out a deal to acquire Silver Spring, MD-based Webs Inc., which provides a do-it-yourself suite of Websites, Facebook pages and mobile presence solutions for small businesses, for $117.5 million payable at closing. The company’s revenues for the calendar year 2011 are forecast to be approximately $9 million.

Webs Inc. has served more than 40 million customers globally since its inception in 2001, with millions of active users and 100,000-plus paying subscribers. More than 20,000 new users register daily for its products. The 50-employee company also provides premium products through subscription charges.

“Webs’ suite of products delivers incredible value to micro businesses, helping them to look professional online in order to grow their business,” said Robert Keane, CEO of Vistaprint. “Vistaprint is already successfully delivering digital marketing services to our customer base, with hundreds of thousands of active registered customers and over $50 million in digital subscription revenues last fiscal year. Webs complements this success with a business model based primarily on free products that has achieved impressive customer reach. They are serving millions of users who are exactly the types of micro businesses that Vistaprint targets.”

Vistaprint provides customized identity and marketing products to micro businesses, with much of its growth fueled by its free business card offer.