J.L. Halsey Co. executives are looking for more acquisitions in e-mail marketing after the company yesterday bought Uptilt Inc., which does business as EmailLabs, Menlo Park, CA.
J.L. Halsey also purchased e-mail software firm Lyris Technologies in May, so Halsey is essentially “putting a software company and a hosting company together,” said Luis Rivera, chief operating officer at J.L. Halsey, Wilmington, DE.
Halsey claims the combined firms make it the largest publicly held company focusing on e-mail marketing. EmailLabs' revenue rose 80 percent last year to $5.7 million.
Halsey will pay Uptilt $19.5 million in cash at closing and two annual installments totaling up to $3.5 million, depending on whether EmailLabs achieves specific revenue targets.
Halsey will continue to look for more acquisitions in the e-mail industry because, Rivera said, “we find this space to be very interesting. We also believe the space is going to continue to evolve, [and] there won't be nearly as many smaller players.”
Consolidation is good for the industry, Rivera said.
“There are too many people out there who claim to do e-mail and do not necessarily understand the real issues involved, such as deliverability and reputation,” he said.
Though EmailLabs and Lyris will continue to operate as they have, according to Rivera, David Sousa, co-founder and CEO of Uptilt, and Adrian Liang, co-founder and CTO, will resign from their positions but remain as advisers. Jim Herbold, vice president of sales and general manager at EmailLabs, will stay with the company.
Christine Blank covers online marketing and advertising, including e-mail marketing and paid search, for DM News and DMNews.com. To keep up with the latest developments in these areas, subscribe to our daily and weekly e-mail newsletters by visiting www.dmnews.com/newsletters
