Lightspeed Bets $925 Million on M&A to Beef Up E-Commerce Wares

  • Canadian tech company enters Shopify’s territory with Ecwid
  • Montreal firm has emerged as one of country’s tech successes
Photographer: Christinne Muschi/Bloomberg
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Lightspeed POS Inc., a software company catering to the retail and hospitality industries that has emerged as one of Canada’s large tech successes, will spend $925 million on two acquisitions to beef up its e-commerce offerings.

The Montreal-based company said Monday that it would pay about $500 million in cash and shares to acquire Ecwid Inc., which helps small companies set up an e-commerce site in a few clicks. Its purchase of NuOrder Inc., for about $425 million, half of it in cash, will let it offer sales analytics and a simpler interface for merchants to place orders with suppliers.