This was unexpected: the popular retailer and manufacture of digital and physical imagery products, Shutterfly, has aquired BorrowLenses, one of the top online gear rental outlets in the country. As part of the deal, BorrowLenses's Founders Max Shevyakov and Mark Gurevich, will join Shutterfly Inc. Aside from vesting stock information for the two founders (and even then, that information includes no explicit dollar amount), no monetary value of the exchange has been released.
From the official Shutterfly release:
"BorrowLenses addresses the growing consumer demand for high-quality products and services that are delivered on demand without high up-front costs," said Jeffrey Housenbold, president and CEO of Shutterfly. "BorrowLenses is a perfect addition to the Shutterfly Inc. family of lifestyle brands, as they are the premium provider in the photo equipment rental category and are passionate about helping their customers capture moments by providing them with best in class photography and video equipment."
"This acquisition gives Shutterfly a presence in the rapidly expanding sharing economy. We now have a greater ability to diversify our revenue streams, reduce fourth quarter seasonality and improve upsell and cross-sell opportunities among our family of brands," added Housenbold.
With operations in San Carlos, CA and Boston, MA, BorrowLenses provides professional and amateur photographers and videographers with a choice of thousands of camera, lens, and equipment options delivered through the mail or local pick up at more than 30 local and independent camera stores in 12 states across the nation.
Inducement Grant Disclosure
In accordance with NASDAQ Listing Rule 5635(c)(4), Shutterfly granted an inducement grant to Max Shevyakov and Mark Gurevich. The inducement grant consists of a restricted stock unit award representing the right for each founder to receive up to 134,698 shares of Shutterfly's common stock for a combined total of 269,396 shares of Shutterfly's common stock. The award will vest over two years, with 50 percent of the underlying shares vesting on each of the first and second anniversaries of the initial October 24, 2013 grant date. The grant is being made as an inducement material to Max Shevyakov's and Mark Gurevich's acceptance of employment with Shutterfly, in accordance with NASDAQ Listing Rule 5635(c)(4). Vesting of the award is subject to Max Shevyakov's and Mark Gurevich's continuous service through each vesting date.
You can read a letter covering about the same information written by the BorrowLenses founders here. They have also set up an FAQ to stress that this means no noticeable change to BL fans. Let's all pray that is the case.
Wow
wow!
I kinda get it from the share economy angle, but this just seems like an odd acquisition.
I agree on both accounts.
That is very unexpected! I wonder how it will impact us, the costumers.
As long as Shutterfly allows BL to directly control their end of the business, nothing major should change...hopefully
I like cheese.
I've got bacon.
Interesting. I'm more of a LensRentals guy.
As long as BorrowLenses are profitable; bigger fish eats the smaller fish.....
Wow indeed. The stock (SFLY) sits at ~55 so each founder will receive $7.4 Million in RSUs. Even though that is restricted that is an awesome payday.
Hello, all - a BL'er here. It has been a big surprise for us, too, and we're still letting it all sink in. One thing we can say for certain, though, is that we're maintaining our brand (it's still going to be BorrowLenses) and maintaining our same style of hands-on customer service. Our blog will stay the same as will our social media content and affiliate program.
Acquisitions are rarely a good thing. We'll see how this goes.
As a BorrowLens customer I have just found out that because of Shutterfly I will no longer doing business with BL. Shutterfly changed their policies. Goodbye.