99designs acquired by Vistaprint in major local deal

"They have an active customer base of more than 20 million people globally ... We think we can serve those customers and for this to also be a great ... opportunity for the freelancers that work for 99designs."

Mr Llewellyn will continue to lead 99designs and also become vice-president of creative marketplaces for Vistaprint.

Vistaprint enables people to design and order custom-printed marketing materials such as business cards, stationery, labels and posters. Previously businesses had to do the design work themselves.

Speaking to The Australian Financial Review, Cimpress chief executive and Vistaprint founder Robert Keane said he had been aware of 99designs for about a decade, but it wasn't until Vistaprint's organic growth began slowing and he started considering new opportunities that merging the two companies crossed his mind.

"Sometimes our customers wanted to do [the designs] themselves, but they also clearly wanted expert advice," Mr Keane said.

"We think the combination of our demand side and their supply side is very powerful.

"We are not disclosing any details, but ... it's a fair and substantial price ... and we have explicit plans to invest heavily beyond that. "

Mr Keane had his first meeting with Mr Llewellyn last November while visiting Australia to see his daughter, who was studying at the University of NSW. The two struck up an immediate rapport, but acquisition talks were paused when COVID-19 struck.

Discussions resumed in late April and most of the deal was done over Zoom.

'A natural thing'

"It was a long gestation period and that was important to me and to Robert as well," Mr Llewellyn said.

"I was able to make sure I was comfortable and there was this strong alignment around values. It was a natural thing for us."

The largest shareholders in 99designs are US VC fund Accel and co-founders Mr Mickiewicz and Mr Harbottle.

In Melbourne 99designs employs about 50 people. Vistaprint has committed to hiring at least 30 more locally in the immediate future, largely in the product and engineering teams.

The 99designs brand will live on in its own right, but will also be integrated into the back end of Vistaprint.

"We hope to acquire new customers, but a big part of this is serving the needs that our customers tell us they already have," Mr Keane said.

"Our traditional heritage was based on servicing small businesses with a DIY focus ... but even though we have loyal customers who have been with us for years, they were often splitting their expenditure between us and others.

"They were coming to us for things they could do themselves, but when they didn't have the expertise, they'd find someone that could help them with their more complicated [design] needs."