CommerceHub Said to Hire Adviser for IPO at $2 Billion-Plus Valuation

CommerceHub Said to Hire Adviser for IPO at $2 Billion Valuation

16 Jul 2020, 12:47 PM IST

(Bloomberg) -- CommerceHub Inc., a private equity-backed maker of e-commerce software that has seen its business boom during the Covid-19 pandemic, is preparing an initial public offering that could value the business at more than $2 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

The company is working with Morgan Stanley on a public listing that could launch in the fourth quarter of this year or in 2021, said the people, who requested anonymity because the talks are private. As with any company that pursues an initial public offering, CommerceHub may also garner takeover interest, some of the people said. One person said the company could target a valuation of as much as $3 billion.

Albany, New York-based CommerceHub was founded in 1997 by Frank Poore and Richard Jones, who serve as chief executive officer and chief technology officer respectively. The company was spun off from Liberty Interactive in 2016 and taken private two years later by GTCR and Sycamore Partners for $1.1 billion.

Representatives for GTCR, Morgan Stanley and Sycamore declined to comment. CommerceHub didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. No final decisions have been made and the company may choose not to pursue a listing.

More than 12,000 retailers and brands, including Best Buy Co. and Dell Technologies Inc., use CommerceHub’s software to fulfill orders and organize deliveries, the company’s website shows.

In June, CommerceHub said its online order volume had more than doubled since March, after the pandemic forced consumers to move purchases online.

“The lasting impacts of Covid-19 aren’t going away and it is critical that retailers pivot their investments to where consumers are spending their money: online,” Poore said in a statement.

Despite this year’s market volatility, the IPO market has been thriving. Shares in technology companies including nCino Inc. and Lemonade Inc. have each more than doubled in value since their public market debuts.

Several large tech businesses, including Palantir Technologies Inc., Asana Inc., Unity Technologies Inc. and Snowflake Inc., are preparing to go public this year, Bloomberg has reported.