• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, July 30, 2020

Martin Sorrell-led S4 Capital has announced its latest M&A deal--Orca Pacific which it is merging with its programmatic company MightyHive. Terms weren’t disclosed.

Seattle-based Orca Pacific helps clients develop their Amazon ecommerce businesses and S4 said the deal builds on its existing relationship with the ecommerce giant, “equipping teams with an end-to-end ecommerce offering.”

Orca was founded in 2008 by John Ghiorso. The company employees 40 former Amazon employees and retail industry specialists. Clients include Reebok, Uni-ball, OshKosh, Godiva and Del Monte.

COVID-19 has certainly given ecommerce a boost. S4 cited a recent Morgan Stanley report predicting that U.S. ecommerce would grow 38% this year versus a pre-pandemic projection of 13%.

That report also projects that ecommerce will account for nearly 25% of retail sales by the end of 2020 and that “74% of people shopping online start with Amazon.”

The deal follows a $116 million equity placement S4 completed a couple of weeks ago to boost its M&A capability. At the time S4 hinted that the Orca deal was coming noting that it had several deals in the works including one “in eCommerce around a major platform in the United States.”