Blogs

Today it was announced that Return Path has purchased Habeas. While terms of the deal were not disclosed in the announcement, it was stated that both SenderScore Certified and the Habeas Safelist will continue to run as two separate whitelists. Over the last couple of months, there have been a number of rumors as to what would happen to Habeas, as it was widely known that they were up for sale. I believe this new deal makes a lot of sense for Return Path, as they will not only take over Habeas’ customer list, but I imagine that they paid a “fair” price for the company.

So what happens to those Habeas customers that were using their delivery tools such as their seedlist, message preview or even delivery support? Those customers will be migrated over to the Return Path tools and services in the next couple of months so that there will only be one platform supported by the company.

What does this mean for the industry? Well, the first thought is that it reduces the number of well-established accreditation companies from three to two, with only Return Path and GoodMail still in the mix. While there are some other smaller options out there, these two seem to be the most widely used and well known by those that are not just in the deliverability space, but email as a whole. With regards to delivery tools, there are still other companies such as Pivotal Veracity as well. Of course, the next question most people will ask, will the reduction in options increase the prices for what is left, that is something we will have to wait and see on. For now, I think this acquisition makes a lot of sense for Return Path, and I have all the faith in them that they will make a smooth transition for the current customers of Habeas.

Let me know what you think—Do you agree or think I have lost my mind on this—please make sure to add your comments.