Spree Reports Sale to First Data

Spree Commerce reports that it has been acquired by First Data Corp.

Spree's CEO Sean Schofield revealed the purchase in a blog post Sept. 18. Spree will continue to develop e-commerce software out of its Washington, D.C. office and plans to continue hiring employees, Schofield said.

"First Data recognizes the important role of open-source technology," Schofield wrote. "They are fully supportive of our efforts and the Spree project will remain open source."

First Data, a unit of KKR & Co., is planning to launch an initial public offering this month and is said to be seeking at least $2.5 billion through the process.

"Spree is at forefront of e-commerce software development and we are excited to incorporate their team into the First Data family," said Dan Charron, head of global business solutions at First Data, in an emailed statement. "With its deep subject matter expertise and successful open source software development, Spree will help First Data build stronger connections to the developer community and bolster our ability to deliver unrivaled ecommerce solutions to businesses around the world."