The businesses said the deal, which was announced yesterday (5 November) and is due to formally close this month, has satisfied regulatory review and received “overwhelming support” from the shareholders of both companies.
Founded in 2013, Printful provides production and fulfilment services to small and medium-sized businesses. It has since expanded its offering to serve the direct-to-consumer market and large enterprise clients.
Printful has scaled its own on-demand production facilities across multiple continents, and now fulfils more than a million items a month.
The business – now headquartered in the US – was Latvia’s first start-up to gain unicorn status, having been valued at more than $1bn (£777m).
Meanwhile, Printify makes it possible for anyone, anywhere to sell customised products with no upfront investment.
Established in 2015, Printify serves individual entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized businesses. It has generated over 60 million orders that are fulfiled by more than 85 printers that make up its global network.
Customers of both companies include individuals running side-hustles, entrepreneurs creating their own brands, and some of the world’s largest entertainment companies using creative merchandise to engage their fans.
By joining forces as equal partners and combining their technology capabilities and resources, the new combined company said it would use the strengths of Printful’s in-house production facilities and Printify’s network production partners to provide customers greater product selection, broader geographic reach, and “ever improving fulfilment solutions”.
The companies further said the merger would help “speed up the replacement of mass production” and “reduce the harmful effect of overproduction on the planet”.
They stated: “The ultimate result will be a new, more efficient, fast-growing, and profitable company well positioned to drive innovation and extend its product and service offering to more customers in more geographies.”
Printful CEO Alex Saltonstall said: “This is an exciting moment for everyone. Printify is a business that we have long respected and I believe that there is a natural fit between the two companies.
“As our discussions progressed, we found that our cultures are very similar, while our businesses are even more complementary than we initially believed."
Anastasija Oleinika, CEO at Printify, added: “In recent years, the Latvian tech and entrepreneurial scene has caught up with our neighbours in the Baltics and Eastern Europe. This merger will not only help to crystallise that position but also give us the platform to be a destination for top talent from around Europe and the world.”
Both the Printful and Printify brands will be maintained for the foreseeable future, and the companies said existing sellers and customers could expect to see new offerings on both platforms soon.
