Royal Mail Invests In A New Start-Up Down Under

City A.M. | Business

Royal Mail has reportedly bought into a new start up in Australia. The Company called Market Engine Global says it is into the business of unlocking global markets, helping organisations expose their brand to millions of new customers around the globe.

The company said it's market engine retail platform allows clients to connect through an English interface to the world's biggest e-commerce sites, and also help them manage and sell to any one anywhere right from their own office.

But according to the City A.M. report the size of the stake had not been made public. The amount paid for it has also not been revealed, only that the the move was a pointer to Royal Mail's attempt to diversify its business.

Market engine says it has access to over 500 million more customers with an appetite for western brands, but exactly how Royal mail intend to use this information is not yet known.

Market Engine's strength is in building e-commerce and it says with them customers can have mutltipe e-commerce shop fronts in different countries and languages - "all from one English interface". Effectively therefore, there will be no barriers for your business.

And with e-commerce in China estimated to hit £354 bn (US$540 billion) by 2015, it is not surprising that Nick Landon, managing director of Royal Mail Parcels is excited about the investment.

He said: "I’m excited to announce our investment in Market Engine. We think we can leverage our scale and expertise to help Market Engine expand and accelerate its entrance into new markets, while identifying opportunities to incorporate its technology solutions within Royal Mail’s existing operations."

But Royal Mail investors are apparently not as excited with the news and by afternoon, shares for the £6.62bn British Icon were struggling - hovering between a loss of 19% and 26% of its value. It is trading at 461.80p even though it opened at 466.30.