Cantaloupe Will Be Acquired by 365 Retail Markets in an $848 Million Deal

365 Retail Markets LLC, a provider of self-service commerce technology, has entered into an agreement to acquire Cantaloupe Inc. in an all-cash deal for $848 million in a deal that will take Cantaloupe private. Cantaloupe shareholders will receive $11.20 per share, a 34% premium. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2025.

The parties expect the acquisition to help expand the combined company’s client base in North America, Latin America, and Europe, 365 Retail says. Markets served by 365 Retail Markets include food-service operators, micro-markets, vending, hotel and hospitality, and corporate and hospital break rooms. 365 Retail Markets, which is owned by Providence Equity Partners L.L.C., does business in more than 30 countries and says it generates more than 1 billion annual transactions through 80,000 devices. The combined company will have about 1.34 million devices globally, according to a research note from William Blair & Co.

“We believe the acquisition should result in a host of synergies between the two companies (scale benefits, cross-sell opportunities, product innovation, etc.), combining Cantaloupe’s leading U.S. share in traditional unattended verticals—and growing presence in micro markets/smart stores—with 365’s leading U.S. share in micro markets,” Cristopher Kennedy, an analyst for William Blair writes in a research note.

One of Cantaloupe’s strengths is that it has transformed its business the past four years, “including a corporate rebranding, refreshing its senior leadership team, narrowing its target market, improving its balance sheet, investing heavily in internal processes/infrastructure, introducing new products, and completing M&A activity,” Kennedy adds.

In addition to creating opportunities to expand the combined company’s client base, observers say the deal is expected to generate customer cost savings, create cross-selling opportunities, and lead to new products, vertical-specific software, and payments expansion.

Cantaloupe’s “complementary offerings and team expertise” will enable 365 Retail Markets to “deliver a broader, more innovative suite of solutions” to its customers around the world, 365 Retail chief executive and founder Joe Hessling says in a statement.

Unattended retail payments are considered an attractive market that is expected to grow as labor shortages increase and advances in self-service technology occur over the next several years, Kennedy adds.