NEWS
Paul Hastings Advises Ares and 31 Private Credit Lenders on $5 Billion+ of Financing for Auctane’s Acquisition of Worldwide Express
June 05, 2026
Paul Hastings LLP advised Ares Capital, together with a club of 31 additional private credit lenders, on more than $5 billion of senior secured financing for the acquisition by Auctane (f/k/a Stamps.com), a Thoma Bravo portfolio company, of Worldwide Express (WWEX) to form ShipStation Global. Paul Hastings previously advised the private credit lenders on the financing of Thoma Bravo’s $6.6 billion acquisition of Stamps.com, which was the largest unitranche debt financing of its kind at the time of closing.
The merger unites WWEX Group’s freight brokerage platform and network with Auctane’s AI-powered shipping software and commercial delivery tailored for small and medium-sized businesses. ShipStation Global provides a single, integrated logistics platform for end-to-end global fulfillment solutions.
Global Finance partners Michele Cohen and Mitchell Zuckerman led the Paul Hastings team, which also included associates Andrew Barondess, Michael Liu and Erin Gormley.
More details on the transaction can be found here.
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