Shopify Inc. made a major move to beef up its nascent shipping and delivery network announcing Monday a US$450 million deal to buy 6 River Systems.
With 6 River Systems, Shopify gets a robotics company that builds systems for automating warehouse operations. The Massachusetts-based company was founded in 2015 by executives from Kiva Systems, a robotics a company that was acquired by e-commerce giant Amazon, before Kiva was renamed Amazon Robotics.
The deal is structured with Shopify paying about 60 per cent in cash and 40 per cent in stock. About US$69 million of the stock will vest with the 6 River Systems founders and employees subject to terms associated with stock-based compensation.