Shopatron and MarketLive to keep dual headquarters

E-commerce providers San Luis Obispo-based Shopatron Inc. and Petaluma-based MarketLive Inc. will have dual headquarters when the two companies combine after an acquisition by Vista Equity Partners, according to Ken Burke, CEO of MarketLive. It couldn’t be learned whether they will eventually merge in one location.

Vista Equity Partners is simultaneously acquiring both Shopatron, which offers online order management software, and MarketLive, which provides digital commerce software and services for retailers, catalogers, direct marketers and manufacturers.

Vista Equity Partners, a private U.S.-based equity firm focused on investing in software and technology-enabled businesses, plans to combine the two retail software companies to advance the way retailers and branded manufacturers connect with consumers, a news release said. MarketLive’s customer-facing software and Shopatron’s back-end software together make an ideal one-stop-shop for retailers, Burke said.

The dual headquarters will be in San Luis Obispo and Petaluma, Burke told The Tribune via email. He added that MarketLive has adequate space in Petaluma for expansion, which he anticipates.

MarketLive has about 125 employees, including 100 in Petaluma. Shopatron has about 160 employees in San Luis Obispo and an additional 10 in England. Both companies have said all employees will be retained.

Ed Stevens, CEO of Shopatron, could not be reached for comment Wednesday but said Monday that he will remain as a senior leader. Burke told The Tribune on Wednesday that early next year the companies will be working together to create a go-to-market strategy for an integrated, omni-channel solution for retailers.

Burke said he plans to work closely on both the transition and the integration of the two companies. The Santa Rosa Press Democrat reported that Burke will stay around for the next year as the company undergoes a transition. Burke told the Press Democrat that he has other ideas for future business endeavors.

Burke declined to disclose the company’s annual sales but noted that MarketLive was profitable in 2014 and expects to be profitable in 2015.

Shopatron’s Stevens, who founded the firm in 2001, reported revenues of about $18 million in 2013 but declined to disclose revenues since then — or year-over-year growth. He has not disclosed profits.

Demandware (a Massachusetts-based software technology company), Magento (an e-commerce software and platform) and Oracle (a Redwood City-based global computer technology corporation) were listed by Burke as the company’s biggest competitors. Burke added that a combined MarketLive and Shopatron would make a potent competitor to IBM (a New York-based multinational technology and consulting corporation), Oracle and Demandware. He anticipates that together, MarketLive and Shopatron will become at least a $200 million to $300 million business, serving medium-sized and larger retailers, according to the Press Democrat.

Vista Equity Partners did not respond to requests for information. The firm, with offices in Austin, Chicago and San Francisco, has more than $14 billion in cumulative capital commitments and invests in software, data and tech-based organizations, according to its website.

This story was originally published December 2, 2015 at 4:22 PM with the headline "Shopatron and MarketLive to keep dual headquarters."