EMERGE Commerce Makes First Post-IPO E-commerce Acquisition

Well, that didn’t take long. After a successful TSXV launch last month, EMERGE Commerce has made its first post-IPO acquisition.

In its largest e-commerce acquisition to date, EMERGE has acquired meat subscription service truLOCAL for $16.8 million.

Founded in February 2016 in Kitchener, truLOCAL is a direct-to-consumer, locally sourced meat subscription service in Canada, with a growing presence in the US.

truLOCAL was recently ranked as Canada’s 14th fastest growing company and generated revenue of approximately $19.8 million in 2020, representing over 130% growth year-over-year.

“In truLOCAL, we have acquired a profitable market leader in the lucrative food tech space that happens to be one of the fastest growing companies in Canada,” said EMERGE Founder and CEO, Ghassan Halazon.

“Throughout the pandemic, online shopping for groceries, and meats in particular, has been a bestselling vertical across both EMERGE and the e-commerce sector at large, sparking our strategic interest in the category, and eventually leading us to the formidable business that is truLOCAL under Marc’s leadership.”

The acquisition is EMERGE’s first of a monthly recurring subscription offering. truLOCAL’s award-winning founder and team, led by Marc Lafleur, will continue in their roles post-acquisition.

“In 4 years, we’ve been fortunate enough to put together a team of dedicated individuals who have worked together to make truLOCAL the Canadian category leader in meat subscription. In the process, we’ve introduced local farmers, producers and suppliers to the power of e-commerce, connecting them with thousands of loyal, health-conscious consumers across the country,” said Marc Lafleur, Founder and CEO of truLOCAL.

“In EMERGE, we identified a truly founder-friendly strategic partner that deeply appreciates our culture and is supportive of our ambitious growth plans. We’re excited to leverage EMERGE’s acquisition engine and gain access to their full suite of shared services, data insights, and cross-selling with their extensive member database.”