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Stamps.com surges on Microsoft deal

Stamps.com (Nasdaq: STMP) rose 18 percent after it said Monday it has a deal with Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) to offer its Internet postage service through the Microsoft Office Update Web site.

Shares in the recently public Internet postage service rose 5 1/2 to 36 1/8 Monday morning following the news.

Stamps.com said its service will be available nationwide on Sept. 27 in conjunction with national promotions to be held with key corporate partners.

As part of the Microsoft agreement, Stamps.com will make its Internet postage service available to millions of Microsoft Office users. Stamps.com allows customers to buy and apply postage using their PC and printer.

Stamps.com recently received U.S. Postal Service regulatory approval and is currently converting its beta customers to commercial service. Stamps.com service will be available to customers nationwide on Sept. 27. Stamps.com partners include America Online, Inc. (AOL), Concentric Network Corp., Avery Dennison, MySoftware, Microsoft, Office Depot, Quicken.com, Westvaco, and other leading office supply and technology companies. Before its public debut, Stamps.com had a lot of big betters funding its digital stamp and Internet delivery technology.

Stamps.com declined to disclose how much they paid Microsoft for the deal.