Subscribe

Tag: acquisition

Logistics Firms Merge into New Company

Posted on by Keith McKinley

J. & J. Denholm Limited (the Denholm Group) is excited to announce that Denholm Global Logistics and Good Logistics, two renowned logistics leaders, have merged to form Denholm Good Logistics. The creation of this merger marks the pinnacle of the integration of Good Logistics and Denholm Global Logistics (which incorporates Hamilton Shipping Container Services).

Family-owned diversified business, J. & J. Denholm Limited (the Denholm Group), announced the acquisition of freight forwarding and logistics company, John Good Logistics Limited, in 2021. Today’s announcement on the coming together of these two renowned companies reflects the Denholm Group’s commitment to innovation, customer-centric solutions, and a forward-thinking approach to delivering tailored solutions that empower businesses to thrive in an ever-evolving global market.

Combining Denholm Global Logistics and Good Logistics into a single, stronger entity, Denholm Good Logistics, enables customers and employees to benefit from the enhanced size and scale whilst retaining shared family values.

Denholm Good Logistics will continue to leverage its expertise, knowledge, and digital innovation to deliver logistics solutions that
streamline global supply chains, enhance operational efficiencies, promote eco-friendly practices, reduce carbon footprints, and provide a
seamless experience for customers of all sizes across a diverse range of industries.

Key benefits

* Global Presence – A more robust global presence, ensuring a wider reach. Customers can expect seamless global solutions that optimise
transit times and freight costs
* Technical Innovation – Continued investment in technology, leveraging automation, AI, and data analytics to streamline operations,
optimise routes and provide real-time visibility of the movement of goods
* Expanded Service Offerings – Customers will benefit from an expanded portfolio of services
* Sustainability – A strong commitment to environmental sustainability, adopting practices to help customers choose greener options, track and report their emissions, and reduce their carbon footprint

Company Leadership

Denholm Good Logistics will be led by an exceptional leadership team, combining industry expertise and visionary leadership from both
organisations. This dynamic team will drive the company’s vision, ensuring continued innovation, growth, and customer satisfaction.

Embracing Change

Speaking about the merger, Alan Platt (pictured), Divisional Managing Director of Denholm Good Logistics, stated, “This merger to create Denholm Good Logistics represents the convergence of two organisations that share a common vision for the future of logistics. By uniting our strengths, we are confident in our ability to continue providing customers with forward-thinking tailored supply chain management solutions and exceptional customer service.”

Ben MacLehose, CEO of the Denholm Group, expressed similar sentiments, “The acquisition of Good Logistics by the Denholm Group was enabled because of our shared commitment to excellence, innovation, and customer focus. Merging these two global freight forwarding businesses to create Denholm Good Logistics is exciting for all stakeholders, including customers, suppliers, and our colleagues. I am extremely pleased with the transformation and the combined, modern, dynamic brand, which represents the two separate businesses coming together and becoming stronger as a result.”

The new Denholm Good Logistics brand was revealed to customers on 2nd January 2024.

3PL Sees Bright Future After Acquisition

Posted on by David Priestman

Kammac Ltd has been acquired by the Elanders group, a Swedish stock market listed business which offers global supply chain management solutions. Elanders operates in 20+ countries around the world and employs more than 7000 people.

Paul Kamel, the owner and founder of Kammac Ltd agreed to sell the business after a sales process that attracted interest from several parties. Kamel felt that Elanders group was the best fit to allow Kammac and its people to continue growing and maintain the success that had already been achieved by the company during his 35+ years at the helm.

Elanders’ acquisition of Kammac Ltd is in line with their strategy to constantly develop its offering and broaden its customer base. As a result of the acquisition, the UK will become Elanders’ fourth largest market.

Kammac has developed a unique 3PL concept which has grown, evolved and improved continuously over several years, and now that Kammac is part of the Elanders group, the services that Kammac offers will support expected further growth.

One of Kammac’s competitive edges, cited by Elanders, is that the start-up time for new customers is only one to two weeks. Kammac is also well positioned to support businesses across a number of sectors. Several of its warehouses offer services such as bonded warehouses and temperature-controlled environments. Kammac also has a license to handle medical products such as pharmaceuticals and their components.

Acquisition

On a day-to-day basis it is very much business as usual for Kammac Ltd, albeit under new ownership. There will likely be some structural changes within Senior Management positions over the next few weeks to ensure continuity and to align with authority level delegation from Elanders. The next stage of Kammac’s growth journey is expected to be an exciting one with new ideas, new opportunities and new initiatives to come which will allow the business to flourish as it transitions to being part of the Elanders group.

Ged Carabini, Chief Operations Officer of Kammac, comments on the deal: “It has been an absolute pleasure and such a learning curve over the last 6 years working with Paul and Sue Kamel, Craig and Laura Olson. I would like to extend my thanks to them and take this opportunity to wish them all the very best moving forward. I am very proud of the growth journey that we have made and the unique platform that we at Kammac have created in recent years. With the global footprint that Elanders has, we will be able to grow further in the UK by being able to offer Elanders’ current customers our solution. I also see great opportunities to develop the current Kammac offering by using Elanders’ proprietary platform for omnichannel solutions. I am also convinced that our unique business model will be able to create new business opportunities for Elanders in other markets.”

Rockwell Completes Acquisition of Clearpath Robotics

Posted on by David Priestman

Rockwell Automation, Inc. (NYSE: ROK), one of the world’s largest companies dedicated to industrial automation and digital transformation, has announced it completed its acquisition of Ontario, Canada-based Clearpath Robotics Inc., a leader in autonomous robotics, including autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for industrial applications.

The acquisition includes Clearpath Robotics’ namesake research division, a leader in developing autonomous technology for the innovation market, and the industrial division OTTO Motors, which provides AMRs, the next frontier in industrial automation and transformation. Both divisions report to Rockwell’s Intelligent Devices operating segment.

“We are delighted to welcome the Clearpath Robotics and OTTO Motors teams to Rockwell,” said Blake Moret, Chairman and CEO, Rockwell Automation. “This acquisition marks a turning point for our customers around the world. Rockwell is simplifying and transforming the difficult yet critical function of material handling throughout the manufacturing plant with an end-to-end production logistics solution. Production logistics is key to optimizing operations across an entire facility and bringing the Connected Enterprise to life.”

OTTO Motors will be featured at Rockwell’s Automation Fair, the world’s premier industrial automation and digital transformation event, Nov. 6-9 in Boston, where customers will see firsthand the significant impact that AMRs will have on productivity and safety across operations.

According to Interact Analysis, the market for AMRs in manufacturing is expected to grow about 30% per year over the next five years, with an estimated market size of $6.2 billion by 2027. This acquisition is expected to contribute a percentage point to Rockwell’s fiscal year 2024 revenue growth.

“Not only do AMRs connect islands of automation; they are often one of the final major elements that help manufacturers achieve autonomous production logistics, enabling significant value creation for the manufacturer and their customers,” said Amar Mehta, EY Americas Strategy and Transactions Advanced Manufacturing Leader. “Rockwell is a leader in the key hardware, software, and services that are needed to integrate AMRs into a manufacturing plant. With this acquisition, Rockwell enhances its ability to take manufacturers on a full end-to-end digital transformation for their production environments.”

Rotom acquires Go Plastic Pallets

Posted on by David Priestman

Rotom has acquired Go Plastic Pallets (GPP) and All Pallets (AP), thus expanding its load carrier services in the UK and further strengthening its activities in Europe. GPP and AP are privately owned companies located in Eastbourne and New Haven.

GPP is a leading plastic load carrier distributor in the UK with a broad range of plastic pallets, boxes, (small) containers, crates and trays. With over 160 years of experience in logistics, GPP has a highly dedicated team of industry experts with a strong focus on sustainable load carrier solutions for its clients, in which 93% of sold products include recycled plastic.

All Pallets Ltd is a specialist in new and used wooden pallets, cases and crates to customers throughout the UK. With more than 20 years of experience, AP has strong trade and reconditioning activities, including inhouse transport activities providing attractive short notice delivery and pick-up of pallets from clients or suppliers.

“Both companies have been growing very rapidly in the last years and we are ready for the next phase of growth. We are very enthusiastic to have found a great match with Rotom in terms of complementary activities, business culture and ambitions for the years ahead. We see clear opportunities to expand our client services with the product and service portfolio of the Rotom group and are very excited about the potential of the combined companies in the UK and Europe,” says Jim Hardisty, MD and Co- founder of GPP/AP.

According to Rotom Europe CEO Arjan Kuiper, “GPP/AP’s extensive product/service portfolio and best practice business model in plastic load carriers will create a leading position in the UK and greatly strengthen our market approach in neighbouring EU countries. The activities in load carriers of recycled plastic and reused wooden pallets are furthermore a perfect fit with the sustainable mindset of Rotom.”

The operations of both companies will be gradually integrated with Rotom and the owners Hardisty, Chris Adam and Denzil Davies will continue to lead the companies and support further business development within the Rotom group.

Rotom supports companies with sustainable circular solutions for load carriers in 11 countries in Europe. It is able to manage the entire logistics of load carriers throughout a customer’s supply chain, from the production location up to the retrieval at the end of the chain, with a single point of contact supported by a dense network of European locations. Rotom says its load carrier solutions ensure a more efficient and sustainable customer supply chain (including a reduction of supply chain costs and an increase of reused equipment and materials).

Zapi Acquires 4E Consulting

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Zapi Group, a global leader in electrification, is bolstering its systems capabilities through the key acquisition of 4E Consulting. The acquisition will further Zapi Group’s position as a leading provider offering integrated system solutions to the market. Adding 4E Consulting to the company will expand expertise in integration, testing, and conversion of drivetrains, hydraulic circuits, and ECUs.

“The acquisition of 4E Consulting is a key strategic move for Zapi Group,” said Claes Avasjo, executive director of global sales and marketing of Zapi Group. “It is a significant step that gives us the capability to expand the range of solutions and integrated systems we offer to our customers.”

Founded in 2010, 4E Consulting provides system integration for hybrid and pure electric solutions. It combines mechanical, electronic, electrical, and system management competencies to ensure rapid and efficient solutions for its global customer base.

“We are excited to bring our extensive competence, skills and experience to the Zapi Group,” said Paolo Patroncini, CEO of 4E Consulting. “Our history of practical problem-solving, innovating engineering solutions, and offering a custom approach to system integrations aligns with Zapi Group’s mission, complements existing solutions and will further its approach to electrification.”

similar news

Supply Chain Consulting Group Racks Up the Numbers

 

WNS acquires The Smart Cube and OptiBuy

Posted on by Keith McKinley

WNS (Holdings) Limited, a leading provider of global Business Process Management (BPM) solutions, has acquired The Smart Cube, a leader in platform-driven research and analytics (R&A) focused on procurement and supply chain, and OptiBuy, a leading European provider of procurement platform consulting and implementation solutions. These assets are complementary to WNS’ existing offerings and strengthen the company’s capabilities in both high-end procurement and advanced analytics.

The Smart Cube

Founded in 2003 and headquartered in London, UK, The Smart Cube provides digitally led market intelligence and analytics solutions. The company’s offerings span four key areas including procurement and supply chain, commercial sales and marketing, digital and analytics, and strategy and investment research. The Smart Cube leverages its proprietary digital AI knowledge management platform, Amplifi Pro, to help clients drive improved procurement and market intelligence and insight-based decision making. The company also brings strong front-end advisory capabilities and a large European footprint to the WNS portfolio.

The company has over 800 global employees including a seasoned leadership team with CXO-level relationships, and more than 600 talented R&A specialists with approximately two-thirds holding a Master’s degree. The acquisition of The Smart Cube was completed for a figure $125m.

“The Smart Cube is proud to become part of WNS, an industry leader in global Business Process Management. Both of our firms share a common philosophy of partnering and growing with clients, and believe our businesses continue to have huge growth opportunities ahead,” said Gautam Singh, Founder and CEO of The Smart Cube. “Over the last 20 years, we have built a strong business based on delivering value for our clients leveraging our unique AI+HI (artificial intelligence + human intelligence) methodology. We are delighted to now join WNS in the next phase of our growth journey.”

OptiBuy

Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Warsaw, Poland, OptiBuy is a leading European provider of procurement platform consulting and implementation solutions. The company helps clients leverage the capabilities of leading 3rd party procurement and supply chain platforms including Ivalua, Jaggaer, and O9, and complements WNS’ existing offerings with platforms such as Coupa and Ariba. In addition, OptiBuy also provides consulting, optimisation, outsourcing, and training services to their clients.

Currently focused on the EMEA market, the company has approximately 90 employees including more than 40 senior-level certified platform implementation professionals based in Poland. WNS views expansion of these capabilities into the North American market as a significant opportunity.

The acquisition of OptiBuy was completed for a figure of €30m.

“On behalf of the entire team at OptiBuy, we are excited to become part of WNS and believe that the combination of our two firms will enable the creation of differentiated, end-to-end digital procurement and supply chain solutions for the global marketplace,” said Mateusz Borowiecki, managing director of OptiBuy. “We look forward to building on the capabilities we have created over the past 12 years and working with the WNS team as we help clients leverage digital technologies to drive long-term business value.”

WNS: acquisitions complement us

“Both of these companies possess unique, digitally-led/human intelligence capabilities which are complementary to WNS’ existing procurement and analytics offerings, and are also complementary with each other,” said Keshav R. Murugesh, WNS’ chief executive officer. “The Smart Cube and OptiBuy bring experienced leadership teams, highly specialised resources, and differentiated technology offerings to the WNS portfolio. These companies also have blue-chip customer bases with extensive cross-selling opportunities, and proven track records of delivering strong top line growth, healthy margins, and high levels of customer satisfaction.

“We believe that The Smart Cube and OptiBuy will significantly enhance our WNS-Denali (procurement) and WNS-Triange (analytics) solutions, and help accelerate our positioning and growth in these strategic areas. On behalf of myself and the entire WNS team, we are excited to welcome the talented teams of The Smart Cube and OptiBuy to the WNS family.”

Flowsort merges with FATH Group

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Flowsort has recently merged with the global FATH Group to help intralogistics system integrators and conveyor system manufacturers around the globe directly access Flowsort’s products.

FATH says it is very successful with components for aluminium profile system construction and with solutions for lean processes on the industrial shopfloor. Intralogistics system integrators will now have access to these solutions from a single source through the connection of FATH and Flowsort and thus be able to bring more productivity to the intralogistics sector.

Consumers have now come to expect same- or next-day delivery not only from e-commerce and retail giants but from other small and medium-sized sellers as well. This consumer expectation is pushing many e-commerce businesses to move their distribution centres closer to cities and create micro-fulfilment centres for delivering products to the consumer at a faster pace.

Flowsort supports e-commerce businesses

While e-commerce businesses need to optimise their product delivery speed from fulfilment centres to consumers, they also need to optimise the product movement within the distribution centre itself. Flowsort, which describes itself as one of the top-10 warehouse automation innovators, has developed a range of modular and automated sortation systems which are an integral part of intralogistics automation.

Flowsort distributes these modular sortation solutions to e-commerce and 3PL businesses through intralogistics system integrators and conveyor belt manufacturers. The modular design of the Flowsort sorting equipment allows system integrators and conveyor manufacturers to purchase the sorting modules that fit their clients’ unique requirements.

From there, system integrators can add extra modules to their clients’ intralogistics systems to meet future needs, offering continuous scalability while keeping the initial investment much lower.

Trimble acquires Transporeon

Posted on by David Priestman

Trimble has agreed to acquire Transporeon, a leading cloud-based transportation management software platform, in an all-cash transaction valued at €1.88bn. Transporeon’s software platform provides modular applications that power a global network for 145,000 carriers and 1,400 shippers and load recipients with an integrated suite of best-in-class sourcing, planning, execution, monitoring and settlement tools. Trimble will acquire Transporeon from Hg, a leading software and services investor and current majority shareholder in the business.

Transporeon’s open platform integrates with more than 3,000 global ERP and transportation management systems, enabling a dense network to facilitate more than 25 million on-platform transports in 2022. Transporeon helps customers increase competitiveness, lower costs, reduce waste and solve complex freight problems through automation, real-time insights and network participation. Transporeon operates predominantly in Europe, as well as in developed markets across the Americas and Asia.

Consistent with its cloud software model, Transporeon has a strong financial profile with recurring revenue representing over 90% of total revenue, with extremely low churn and net retention consistently in excess of 110%. Transporeon will be immediately accretive to Trimble’s revenue growth and margin profile, and has generated profitable growth over the past 15+ years, through various stages of the economic cycle.

Trimble and Transporeon are highly aligned

“Transporeon is a leading market player with a large TAM, profitable growth and a platform focused on connected supply chain infrastructure, all of which are highly aligned with Trimble’s Connect & Scale strategy,” said Rob Painter, CEO of Trimble. “Under the leadership of Stephan Sieber and the talented management team, Transporeon has exhibited rapidly increasing network density and an accelerating customer adoption curve. Its solutions are deeply integrated with carriers and shippers, and we are confident the platform will play an increasingly important role in the modernization of supply chains globally. We look forward to working together to enhance and expand on the company’s significant growth trajectory, and to offer enhanced TMS platform solutions to Transporeon customers in Europe and to Trimble customers in the North American market.”

“I am incredibly proud of our team’s dedication and commitment, which has culminated in this exciting transaction,” said Stephan Sieber, CEO of Transporeon. “We have built a remarkable platform and sustained profitable growth to become a leader in this attractive market. This transaction will give us the runway to take what we have created to the next level by uniting our powerful European platform with Trimble’s North American carrier-focused platform. I’m excited to be part of the Trimble team for this next phase of growth.”

The transaction is expected to close in the first half of 2023, subject to customary closing conditions including regulatory approvals.

St. Modwen acquires Midlands cold storage facility

Posted on by David Priestman

St. Modwen, one of the UK’s leading logistics developers and managers, has continued its expansion in the UK’s Midlands with the acquisition of a 56,760 sq ft cold storage distribution facility in Alfreton, Derbyshire.

The modern, two-chamber cold storage distribution facility is located on the Clover Nook Industrial Estate in Alfreton, adjacent to the A38 and Junction 28 of the M1 motorway and on the major North-South distribution corridor.

The site spans 5.31 acres with low site coverage of 25% and currently provides 161 car parking spaces and a further 30 dedicated HGV bays with the capacity to accommodate the installation of EV charging points.

Alfreton, by virtue of its central location equidistant from Nottingham and Derby, has become one of the UK’s major submarkets for distribution and logistics companies. There is strong local demand for high-quality mid box distribution centres with strong transport connectivity, seeing high levels of take-up among occupiers seeking urban depots to serve surrounding towns and cities. Supply of suitable mid box schemes within the Midlands is limited, with low levels of available stock and significant competition between occupiers for best-in-class units.

Polly Troughton, Managing Director, St Modwen Logistics, commented: “The acquisition of this high-quality, modern facility allows us to further expand our footprint in one of the UK’s most competitive logistics locations.

“Our continued acquisition and development of high-quality logistics space within undersupplied regional submarkets across the UK fuels the growth of regional economies. Our schemes create high-quality jobs for local people of all ages and all education levels, directly supporting the government’s levelling up agenda.”

GXO completes Clipper acquisition

Posted on by Keith McKinley

GXO Logistics, Inc., the world’s largest pure-play contract logistics provider, has received regulatory clearance from the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for its acquisition of Clipper Logistics plc. On 24th May 2022, GXO completed its offer; however both companies continued to be run independently pending completion of the regulatory review.

GXO Chief Executive Officer Malcolm Wilson said: “GXO and Clipper are both industry leaders and together, we’re even stronger. As one company, we expect to accelerate growth by expanding our geographic presence in key markets and verticals, bolstering our roster of blue-chip customers and enhancing the breadth of innovative warehouse capabilities we provide.”

Prior to the acquisition, GXO operated more than 900 facilities globally totalling approximately 200m sq ft with 120,000 team members. With Clipper, GXO gains more than 50 sites, 10msq ft, 10,000 team members, and adds geographic presence in Germany and Poland, in the life sciences sector as well as expertise in premium services, including reverse logistics and repairs, which are key growth areas for GXO.

Wilson added: “We share a commitment to ESG, providing an exceptional customer experience and harnessing technology to improve efficiency, productivity and employee safety. Being a great fit culturally will underpin our future success and make for a seamless integration.”

GXO expects to realise significant productivity opportunities and cost synergies within two years from transaction close. The integration process will begin promptly and progress through the latter part of the year to ensure a successful holiday peak season for customers.

 

Subscribe

Get notified about New Episodes of our Podcast, New Magazine Issues and stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter.