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Infinium Logistics Makes Trio of Senior Hires

Posted on by David Priestman

Infinium Logistics, a global logistics solutions business, announces that it has hired L&G’s Tom Gough as Investment Director; former Deliveroo, Amazon and Gett legal heavyweight, Chris Fletcher as General Counsel; and Amazon’s Ben Clark as Acquisitions Manager.

The three strategic hires follow the successful launch of Infinium’s debut property investment fund – GreenPoint Infinium Holdings LP. The world’s first dedicated EV fleet charging real estate fund, it was oversubscribed by investors and provides £500m in firepower to invest in FleetHubs – a new sustainability-focused asset class which combines commercial real estate and low carbon energy infrastructure to drive efficiencies and create a better working environment for last mile delivery service providers.

Tom Gough joins the business to lead its property investment strategy, overseeing its real estate origination team and sourcing FleetHubs sites across Europe. With over 12 years’ experience in the real estate sector, Tom was previously Senior Transactions Manager for LGIM’s (Legal & General Investment Management) Real Assets Platform. Working across all funds but more recently focussing on industrial property transactions, Tom sourced deal pipeline for its c.£22bn billion portfolio of UK real estate equity fund on behalf of institutional and retail clients, including its award-winning Industrial Property Investment Fund (IPIF). Prior to joining Legal & General, Tom was at Cushman & Wakefield.

Chris Fletcher has joined Infinium as General Counsel. Chris brings around twenty years of international legal experience to the team, having trained as a lawyer in the City and then worked in senior positions within leading technology-backed global logistics and fleet organisations including Amazon, Deliveroo and Gett. He has extensive experience in rapid growth environments, building and scaling the legal and compliance functions in the technology, real estate and asset management sectors.

Ben Clark has joined the platform as Acquisitions Manager, in a newly created role dedicated to sourcing and acquiring sites for the development of EV FleetHubs and HGV truck stops. With eight years’ real estate transactions and leasing experience, Ben has previously worked for Amazon, CWM (recently acquired by CBRE) and KLM Retail.

Phil Bayliss, CEO of Europe, Infinium Logistics, commented: “With these hires Infinium takes a big step forward in our transactions capabilities and ability to secure innovative deal pipeline as we seek to deploy capital into the market quickly to capture the once in a generation conversion of transport spend into real estate. I am delighted to welcome Tom, Chris and Ben to the team, they bring with them significant experience in sourcing on and off-market deal flow, structuring complex transactions and scaling platforms.”

Tom Gough, Investment Director, Infinium Logistics, said: “Having a baby in lockdown led me do a lot of thinking about the future and challenged me to be part of the solution for the climate problems we face today and the impact it will have on generations to come. Infinium has given me a fantastic opportunity to use my skillsets and experience to satisfy that brief. I’m excited to be part of an agile team with fresh ideas to develop a new asset class and facilitate the decarbonisation of supply chains.”

Established in 2019 and backed by GreenPoint Partners, Infinium Logistics is a Global Logistics Solutions Business with a mission to Decarbonise, Electrify and Optimise the last and middle mile e-commerce space. Responding to the challenges of rising ecommerce, climate change and the geopolitical energy crisis, and as a market leader in ESG, Electric Vehicle (“EV”) transition and renewable energy technologies, Infinium is helping to reshape today’s industrial estate composition and address the severe global shortage of secure parking and clean fuel areas.

Infinium’s property investment fund is seeking sites of over 1.5 acres in key industrial locations across Europe that are situated within a ten-minute drive of its clients’ occupational requirements. Offering excellent grid access, each hub will include a development plan to support its clients EV transition strategies. A 500-vehicle fleet driving one less mile per route, per day is equivalent to around 2,400 trees. With the UK and many European countries having committed to transitioning to EV by 2030, and with over 200 cities in Europe operating Low Emission Zones where polluting vehicles are banned completely or charged fees, fleet and logistics operators cannot afford not to have a transition strategy in place.

project44 attracts $420m investment

Posted on by David Priestman

project44, a leading supply chain visibility platform, has received an investment totalling US$420m.  A syndicate led by Thoma Bravo, TPG and Goldman Sachs Asset Management with participation from Emergence Capital, Insight Partners, Chicago Ventures, Generation Investment Management, Sapphire and Sozo Ventures acquired equity interests resulting in a pre-money valuation of $2.2bn, and Sixth Street committed to make available additional funding, in support of the company’s strategic acquisition program and product development activities.

When combined with its $202m equity raise in May of 2021, project44 has set a funding record for Logistics Tech enterprise SaaS companies. These investments position project44 to accelerate its mission to help leading brands optimise the movement of products across supply chains, delivering better resiliency, sustainability and value for their customers.

“Today, project44 is helping companies solve supply chain challenges ranging from inflationary pressure and lockdowns to unpredictable weather and bottlenecks at ports,” said Jett McCandless (pictured), Founder & CEO of project44. “Our growth over the past year speaks to these macroeconomic tailwinds and the competitive edge we can provide to our customers. With ongoing support from our investors, we can offer even more value to our customers and solidify our position as the global network that powers the future of the supply chain.”

Throughout 2021, project44 cemented its position as the #1 company in supply chain visibility with global port-to-door coverage across all modes of transportation. The company now generates more than $100m in annual recurring revenue (ARR), the largest Generation 2 logistics tech in the world.

The most influential analysts within the logistics industry also rank project44 ahead of its competitors. Placing first in FreightTech 25, Gartner Voice of the Customer and G2 have all awarded project44 their highest honours. In addition, Chicago Inno named project44 among the best 100 places to work in the city.

“Supply chain visibility has become increasingly important as shortages, delays and bottlenecks ramp up.  project44’s potential to solve even the most complex of these issues is unparalleled,” said Robert (Tre) Sayle, Partner at Thoma Bravo. “By continuously evolving to meet customer needs, project44 has developed a revolutionary platform that adds significant value to the entire global supply chain.”

“project44 has been scaling at an impressive pace, executing decisively on its vision of a global end-to-end supply chain visibility platform,” said Malte Janzarik, Partner at TPG based in Europe. “Supply chain visibility has become a critical technology to solving large-scale problems in the world today, and project44 has emerged as the global market leader. The breadth of data project44 offers and ease of access for shippers, logistics providers and carriers are unmatched. We believe that project44’s next-gen platform and highly valuable network will continue to drive tremendous growth.”

TPG is investing in project44 out of TPG Tech Adjacencies (TTAD), an investment vehicle focused on flexible capital solutions for the technology industry.

Meeting critical need

As the supply chain connective tissue, project44 offers the largest carrier network of any supply chain visibility provider with more than 142,732 multimodal carrier integrations and 2.7 million trucks.  Shippers and logistics providers depend on project44 to help them navigate today’s increasingly complex supply chains, improving their sustainability, building transportation resiliency and meeting the evolving demands of their customers.  project44 supports more than 1,000 organisations across industries including leading brands such as Amazon, Baker Hughes, Coop, CNHI, Danone, Dollar General, FedEx, General Mills, Goodyear, Kuehne & Nagel, Lenovo, McKesson, Mondelez, Nestle, The Home Depot and Unilever.

project44’s momentum speaks to its differentiation and immense lead in the supply chain visibility space. Following an exceptional Q3 2021, project44 has landed $12.7m of newly-booked ARR in Q4. The company has closed 117 logos over that timeframe, contributing to YoY bookings increase of 170% and YoY logo growth of 216%.

In addition to new business wins, net retention for 2021 is at 133%, while annualised gross retention was 96%. project44’s ARR has reached over $100m with a subscription gross margin of 70%, which is up 3% year-over-year. To build on this success, project44 will be nearly doubling its investment in product and engineering in 2022 to deliver improved real-time visibility across more modes of transportation in more regions.

project44 continues to expand its international footprint, offering supply chain visibility in 166 countries. More than 1,000 team members work with project44 at its 17 global offices. Over the coming year the company plans to hire hundreds of new talented team members in China, Europe, Latin America, North America, and Japan.

project44 also hired its first director of diversity, equity, inclusion & culture executive, Ivana Savic-Grubisich. The company is committed to hiring team members who reflect the rich diversity of the communities in which it operates.

In 2021, project44 added five new executives to the team to manage its growing footprint. Charlie Ungashick joined as Chief Marketing Officer in February and Diane Gordon joined as SVP, Global Customer Success in March. In November, Elliot Rodgers joined as Chief People Officer, Jennifer Coyne was appointed General Counsel and Andy Grygiel returned as Chief Brand Officer. These experienced executives bring unique insight to accelerate project44’s growth.

Throughout 2021, project44 increased its value to shippers and logistics providers through acquisitions of leading companies in the market offering complementary solutions. The September acquisition of Convey has enabled project44 to extend real-time visibility and exception management to last-mile, including parcel, courier, white-glove doorstep delivery, and visibility into item returns.

Ocean Insights, acquired in March, brought much-demanded visibility into cargo at sea. ClearMetal, acquired in May, established project44 as the leader in artificial intelligence and machine learning with automation that reduces costs throughout the supply chain.

Customer quotes

“project44 has enabled us to meet our commitment to customers in a year of unpredictability,” said Pat Kenefick, Vice President, Global Distribution and Logistics at AbbVie. “With awareness of where our goods are located, we can adapt to interruptions and make proactive decisions to ensure that our distributors are stocked with inventory. Supply chain visibility is a game changer for our ability to drive growth and enhance patient experiences in a challenging economic environment.”

“Haribo is committed to delivering our beloved products on time and at the high level of quality our brand is known for,” said Stefan Sorce, Head of global logistics and managing director in the Haribo Logistics Company, at Haribo. “This is a core piece of what has allowed us to become a successful business. We benefit from being a global company with a decentralised manufacturing structure. A perfectly coordinated global supply chain is essential for us and that is why we continuously invest in it. We chose to work with project44, the leader in real-time transportation visibility. These insights will help us increase the resiliency of our supply chain and enable faster and smarter decisions that will get Haribo’s products into the hands of our customers.”

“The ongoing events of the last two years have placed unprecedented strain on the supply chains of consumer products manufacturers, and this has only served to highlight the critical need to mitigate risk and increase supply chain resilience,” said Alessandro Bonanno, Head of Global Logistics and Customer Service at Beiersdorf AG. “Partnering with project44 will provide Beiersdorf with improved visibility into our transportation flows and shipments, which will help us cope better with any future supply chain disruptions and fulfil consumer demand.”

“Our team brought on project44 because of its global visibility into import and export arrival and departures,” said Hiroshi Etani, Managing Executive Officer, at Yamato Transport Co., Ltd., Japan’s largest delivery company, “The broad network of multimodal transportation tracking brings more predictability to our business and helps us better communicate with our customers.”

Patrizia invests €230m in largest Dutch DC

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Patrizia AG, a leading partner for global real assets, has on behalf of its institutional clients invested in the €230m turnkey acquisition of a 233,000 sq m distribution centre in the container hub of Rotterdam, Europe’s largest port, from Dutch logistics developer DHG. The acquisition, which represents the largest logistics investment on record in the Netherlands in terms of square metres, was made on behalf of Patrizia’s Logistik-Invest Europa III Fund and Patrizia PanEuropean.

The Smartlog Maasvlakte distribution centre is a mammoth logistics complex under construction on a 30ha site at Distripark Maasvlakte West on Rotterdam’s most recent land reclamation area and the biggest ever to be developed in the Dutch market.

One of the key features of the property is its extensive solar panel roof which includes 46,000 solar panels spanning 210,000 sq m across 10 buildings, generating sufficient energy to power almost 7,000 homes. The asset also contains the best-in-class technical installations and is fully reliant on alternative energy sources to gas.

Alexander van Gastel, Patrizia’s Director for Transactions Netherlands, said: “The Netherlands is one of the most attractive logistics real estate investment markets in Europe and this acquisition consolidates our presence in Rotterdam, one of the ‘Top 10’ largest container seaports in the world. The deal follows on from our first transaction with DHG in 2019 when we acquired a portfolio of distribution centres in three locations in and around Rotterdam. The city’s port area is a leading European logistics hotspot and competition among occupiers for warehouse space in prime locations such as the Maasvlakte is intense, with little high-quality product available due to the rapid take-up of space by domestic and international occupiers.”

The state-of-the-art logistics hub at the western tip of Rotterdam port is 80% pre-let and will comprise 10 warehouse units ranging in size from ca.17,800 to 22,000 sq m plus mezzanine space (ca.1,500 to 2,000 sq m), outside storing terrain and ancillary offices. Tenants include well-known names in the Dutch market including Odin and Zwaluw Logistics. Each unit will be finished to a high specification offering exceptionally smooth concrete floors with a floor load of 6,000 kg/sq m, electrically operated overhead doors on each dock, battery-charging points, LED lighting and floor heating generated by a climate control heat pump. The development is due to be completed in June 2022.

The addition of Smartlog Maasvlakte to the Patrizia portfolio lifts the company’s logistics assets under management in the Netherlands to over €800m, equivalent to roughly 770,000 sq m spread over eight locations across the country. Patrizia’s European logistics portfolio now totals over €6bn in AUM.

Patrizia and developer DHG have entered into a partnership with Dutch solar energy company Sunrock, part of COFRA Holdings, which will own and operate the solar panel installations at Smartlog Maasvlakte. Altogether the ‘sunroof’ can generate 2.5MW of power which will be fed back to the local grid. Including this asset, Patrizia’s Dutch logistics portfolio now comprises almost 400,000 sq m of solar panels, generating sufficient energy for nearly 12,000 households.

Emile Poort, Patrizia’s Country Manager for the Netherlands and Head of Transactions Benelux, said: “The logistics sector has proven to be a safe haven during the Covid-19 pandemic and as economic recovery continues, we are seeing further growth in e-commerce and increasing demand from logistics occupiers, especially for assets that have strong sustainability credentials.”

Smartlog Maasvlakte is ideally located in Europe’s largest container hub served by state-of-the-art deep-sea, inland waterway barge and rail terminals. Distripark Maasvlakte West has excellent connections to the European hinterland via high-frequency multimodal connections. The proximity of Rotterdam city means employers can also tap into a pool of skilled logistics workers.

Rotterdam is the Netherland’s second largest city with a population of over 650,000 inhabitants representing more than 180 different nationalities and a port covering a surface area of 12,600ha. The Maasvlakte was created in the 1960s by reclaiming land from the North Sea, and Distripark Maasvlakte West, the only ‘greenfield’ site available for distribution in the area, is located on the most recently reclaimed land which extended the port area by 2,000ha upon completion in 2013. Rotterdam port accommodates the arrival of more than 30,000 maritime ships and over 105,000 inland waterway vessels annually, with its intermodal transport connections spanning highways, 400 international rail connections and pipelines. The volume of goods throughput in Rotterdam in 2020 totalled 436.8m tonnes, double the figure for Antwerp port and triple that of Hamburg.

Logistics real estate investment volumes in the Netherlands have surged in 2021 and are set to eclipse last year’s record of €3.4bn. The strength of the market is underpinned by occupier take-up, which was already higher in the first nine months of 2021 than the total achieved in full-year 2020.

Patrizia expands logistics footprint in Spain

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Patrizia AG, a leading partner for global real assets, has forward purchased a logistics warehouse development in Illescas, Spain, for approx. €56m, on behalf of its institutional clients. The asset will have a combined surface of 92,000 sq m and is scheduled to be completed by the first quarter of 2023.

The investment was made on behalf of a Patrizia logistics flagship fund for its institutional clients and further strengthens the already significant logistics portfolio of the firm.

Martin Trodden, Fund Management Patrizia, explained: “We are delighted to add the Illescas forward purchase deal to our portfolio in Spain. The logistics sector has proven to be safe haven during the Covid-19 pandemic. As economic recovery takes hold, we are seeing continued growth in e-commerce and increasing demand from logistics occupiers. Despite many new entrants to this investment sector, our specialist logistics funds benefit from a long track record and unique market insight that allow us to find value in this asset class.”

“This acquisition will add another modern, flexible and competitive asset in the second logistic ring of Madrid to our growing logistics portfolio in Iberia,” Eduardo de Roda, Country Manager of Patrizia Iberia, explained. “We are particularly pleased that as part of our commitment to delivering net zero carbon assets, these buildings will have the highly coveted LEED Silver certification, based on their commitment to energy efficiency and to the environment.”

In order to deliver flexible assets, attractive for several tenants and able to provide increased asset management opportunities, the warehouses in Illescas can be divided into up to six modules from 14,000 sq m each.

Illescas is one of the main nodes of the second logistics ring in the so-called ‘central zone’ of Spain and has direct access to the A-42 highway that connects Madrid with Toledo. This area has become one of the most strategic and demanded by distribution and logistics companies due to its excellent connections, proximity to Madrid and the competitiveness of its assets compared to those in other nearby locations. Large consumer and distribution companies such as Amazon, Michelin, XPO, Airbus, Dia, Zalando, Seur and Correos, among many others, are already located there.

Since year end of 2019, the AUM of Patrizia’s logistics segment has grown by 84% to over €5.8bn. Besides being a ‘safe haven’ investment and a key contributor to local resiliency, logistics assets display a strong demand and low vacancy rates across Europe, and its yields consistently outperform those by other asset classes.

With this transaction, Patrizia further strengthens its presence in the logistics segment in Spain, in which it already has assets with a total area of more than 620,000 sq m throughout the country. As a whole, the logistics segment represents around 40% of the assets that Patrizia manages in Iberia, whose total value exceeds €1.4bn.

Transporeon partners with ZeKju for app-free communication

Posted on by David Priestman

Leading European digital freight platform Transporeon has completed its strategic investment into ZeKju. By joining forces, Transporeon and ZeKju will offer digital, yet app-free and GDPR-compliant communication to facilitate exchange between shippers, carriers and logistics service providers.

ZeKju leverages popular messenger apps such as Telegram, Viber and WhatsApp, thereby eliminating the need for drivers to install 10+ apps on their phone. With ZeKju, forwarders and carriers can close digital white spots and significantly reduce process costs. Key application areas of ZeKju include the digital transmission of transport information to drivers, communication of operational changes between involved parties and real-time proof-of-delivery (POD) collection.

In addition, logistics players profit from the GPS tracking capabilities provided by the tool. Especially carriers without proper telematics systems can now automatically communicate their position via the ZeKju application. For Transporeon, together with its real-time visibility solution Transporeon Sixfold, the integration of ZeKju completes the capabilities of the companies’ real-time network. With ZeKju, in-transit visibility becomes available for all transport.

Furthermore, ZeKju’s capabilities in combination with access to truck data make it possible to calculate key environmental indicators such as fuel consumption of a transport. This ability is key for companies that aim to reduce the carbon footprint of their transports but yet lack the data regarding the climate.

Transporeon CEO Stephan Sieber commented: “With ZeKju, we are offering our customers a further key solution in achieving a real-time enabled network. It is a huge step forward towards closing the telematic gap for forwarders and carriers as ZeKju also allows customers that are not connected to the telematics network to benefit from in-transport visibility. Fully compliant with GDPR and with the capability to deliver telematic data to calculate key environmental indicators, ZeKju can also make an important contribution for our customers to reach their sustainability goals.”

ZeKju CEO Hendrik Rosenboom added: “Transporeon is the ideal partner to make the benefits of our tool available to a broader number of logistics professionals. We are thrilled to work with such a strong partner and become an integral part of the functionalities offered by the Transporeon Network.”

Virtual conference to promote investment in Jamaica

Posted on by Keith McKinley

The Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) will be staging Explore: Do Business Jamaica Virtual Investment Conference (DBJVIC) from November 17th–18th, 2021 to introduce local and international investors to business opportunities in the island’s growing industries.

The event will showcase emerging projects and new developments in Agribusiness, Outsourcing, Manufacturing, Energy, Tourism, and the Creative Industries through over 30 panels, interviews and discussions with government and business leaders. The investment conference aims to foster business and stakeholder relationships and will shed light on Jamaica’s COVID-19 economic recovery efforts.

The conference will be staged concurrently via two platforms; one is a virtual interactive business event portal that will facilitate a real-time engagement experience and B2B meetings, the second is a live stream event via social media that will accommodate and drive increased awareness of Jamaica’s economic progress. This format will help JAMPRO to engage attendees including current and potential investors, JAMPRO clients, private and public sector stakeholders, and diplomatic missions.

JAMPRO anticipates extensive global participation based on the planned international promotions which will ensure the leveraging of the virtual B2B meeting platform by potential investors.

New opportunity to do business

Speaking about the event, Jamaica’s Minister of Industry, Investment, and Commerce, The Honourable Audley Shaw, CD, MP., noted that the virtual investment conference has presented a new opportunity for the government to amplify the promotion of Jamaica’s business opportunities: “This virtual conference will allow us to reach and directly engage investors across the globe who are interested in doing business with Jamaica but need further market intelligence and guidance on the potential that is available in the island’s sectors. From our perspective, it is the right time to host this global event, as persons are seeking new ventures as the world slowly returns to normality.”

Diane Edwards, President of JAMPRO, echoed the Minister’s statements, and expressed confidence in the conference’s ability to deliver results for Jamaica and attendees. She said: “The format of the conference is powerful, because it presents an excellent opportunity for global business leaders to get valuable insight on Jamaican investment opportunities, engage their colleagues in various industries, and explore bankable projects, all in the location of their choice.

“We believe that this event will lead to the development of lucrative partnerships and financial opportunities for local and international investors.”

Interested persons are invited to register for the event at explore.dobusinessjamaica.com.

Explore: Do Business Jamaica Virtual Investment Conference is a two-day event that will highlight investment and other business opportunities in Jamaica. The event, hosted by Jamaica’s investment and export promotion agency, JAMPRO, will provide a platform for attendees to learn more about Jamaican investment opportunities, see lucrative projects, and build business relationships.

Explore: Do Business Jamaica Virtual Investment Conference is sponsored by the Foundations for Competitiveness and Growth Project (FCGP), National Commercial Bank (NCB), Mystique Integrated, and M-One Productions.

The Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO)’s mission is to drive economic development through growth in investment and export. JAMPRO is an Agency of the Ministry of Industry, Investment, and Commerce.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION

Smurfit Kappa invests €20m in Czechia and Slovakia

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Smurfit Kappa is substantially expanding its converting capacity at four manufacturing plants across Czechia and Slovakia with a significant €20m investment. The investment further highlights Smurfit Kappa’s commitment to its customers and operations in Eastern Europe.

The investment consists of four major projects, three undertaken in Czechia, at Smurfit Kappa facilities in Žebrák, Žimrovice, and Olomouc, and one in Slovakia at Smurfit Kappa Štúrovo. All four projects are expected to be completed by the end of this year.

Commenting on the announcement, Edwin Goffard, COO of Smurfit Kappa Europe Corrugated, said: “This significant investment by Smurfit Kappa marks a commitment in further developing our presence in Eastern Europe. From both a product and geographical perspective, Smurfit Kappa Czech Republic and Slovakia are excellently positioned to serve an evolving and ever-growing market, and this investment will support further growth of the business.”

The investment will see the installation of new converting equipment which will increase capacity by over 100 million regular and offset printed boxes per annum. The new state-of-the art equipment will enable the plants to meet their respective increasing customer demand for sustainable, paper-based packaging, and to deliver high quality packaging solutions on a consistent basis. The investment also adds the opportunity to bring the employees an even safer and more ergonomic workplace.

Zdenek Suchitra, CEO of Smurfit Kappa Czech Republic and Slovakia said: “We are delighted to see the continued growth and success of our customers here in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. This new investment ensures we are excellently equipped to satisfy a wide variety of customer needs and to continue delivering our high quality solutions, as well as best-in-class efficiency, to the market.”

Smurfit Kappa invests further €35m in Germany

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Smurfit Kappa has announced a significant investment in its Hoya paper mill and board manufacturing plant in northwest Germany. It is the latest phase of an investment programme, which commenced in 2011, and this last phase will see production output increase by 70 kt to 450 kt per annum.

The investment will replace the complete press section of the PM2 paper machine with new state-of-the-art technology, increasing the overall efficiency of the manufacturing process. The PM2 is a 7.5m-wide paper machine, producing both testliner and fluting packaging paper. Production speed will increase to 1250 m/min and upon completion, this world-class machine will further strengthen the industrial efficiency of Smurfit Kappa Group’s containerboard system. It is expected to be operational from the first quarter of 2023.

Saverio Mayer, CEO, Smurfit Kappa Europe said: “This investment will be the final and significant phase of a programme of sustained investment at our Hoya Mill which commenced over a decade ago. Today’s announcement underlines Smurfit Kappa’s continued commitment to developments in leading edge technology and our operations in Germany.”

The investment means that CO2 emissions will be reduced by 5,500t per annum.

Also commenting on the investment, Andreas Noss, Managing Director of the Smurfit Kappa Hoya Mill, said: “This investment will make the PM2 a state-of-the-art light weight paper machine that enables us to meet the changing needs of our customers. It will increase production speed and produce light weight paper in the most efficient and sustainable way possible.”

The Hoya site in Germany has been in operation for over 50 years and is a major regional employer, with over 300 people working at the facility.

 

Locus Robotics Announces Funding Investment

Posted on by David Priestman

Locus Robotics, a leader in autonomous mobile robots (AMR) for fulfilment warehouses, has announced $150 million in Series E funding, led by Tiger Global Management and BOND. The round builds on support from existing investors including Scale Venture Partners and Prologis Ventures, the venture capital arm of Prologis, the global leader in logistics real estate.

“This new round of funding marks an important inflection point for Locus Robotics,” said Rick Faulk, CEO of Locus Robotics. “Warehouses facing ongoing labour shortages and exploding volumes, are looking for flexible, intelligent automation to improve productivity and grow their operations. Locus is uniquely positioned to drive digital transformation in this enormous global market.”

Locus will use the new investment to further expand its market opportunities around the globe and support ongoing research and development (R&D) to grow and enhance its award-winning, innovative warehouse technology solution.

“Locus’s innovative mix of proven technology, flexible design, and seamless scalability makes it an ideal choice to lead the digital transformation of the warehouse,” said Griffin Schroeder, Partner at Tiger Global. “Facing rapidly growing ecommerce volumes, rising labour costs, and increasingly demanding customers, warehouse operators are seeking an automation solution that is flexible, scalable, and just works.”

“The Locus solution unlocks substantial productivity gains, while significantly lowering expenses, improving employee morale, and providing customers with unmatched visibility into warehouse operations,” said Jay Simons, a general partner at BOND. “The platform is powerful enough to meet – and exceed – warehouse operators’ needs today, tomorrow, and in the months and years to come.”

In a market of more than 20 billion square feet of warehouse space worldwide, and rising ecommerce volume, Locus helps operators effectively meet the industry’s growing demand, while seamlessly managing today’s often unpredictable volume shifts. Locus currently serves more than 40 customers and 80 warehouses around the world with its industry-leading solution. LocusBots have picked more than 300 million units, including 70 million units during the recent holiday season.

“The logistics industry is facing huge challenges as it struggles to cope with rapid increases in demand, and at the same time severe labour shortages,” said Ash Sharma, Managing Director at Interact Analysis, a market research firm covering the intelligent automation sector. “Warehouses are massively under-penetrated today, but increasingly operators are seeing the huge benefits that warehouse robotics such as the Locus solution can bring. As a result, we expect that over a million warehouse robots will be installed over the next four years and the number of warehouses using them will grow ten-fold.”

Locus’s proven, innovative, multi-bot solution for warehouse fulfilment incorporates collaborative, autonomous mobile robots that significantly improve productivity and deliver powerful, actionable business intelligence. Locus’s strategic partnerships with industry-leading warehouse software companies leverage a powerful synergy that speeds systems integration and deployment.

“As businesses increasingly look for ways to deliver productivity and operational efficiencies into their supply chain, it has become critical that providers deliver on the promise of speed and reliability in their technology deployments,” said John Santagate, VP of Robotics at Körber Supply Chain. “Through our strategic partnership with Locus Robotics, we continue to collaborate and innovate in order to deliver rapid results by driving down the time it takes from decision to use of Locus Robots in the warehouse.”

Locus customers worldwide include CEVA Logistics, DHL, Material Bank, Boots UK, GEODIS, Port Logistics Group, Verst Logistics, Radial, and others, who are doubling or tripling their fulfilment productivity with near-100% accuracy, while saving on operating expenses, and enhancing employee morale and safety.

“Our users and partners depend on Material Bank, so we have to execute to perfection. Locus is flexible and powerful enough to deploy quickly in both our existing logistics facility as well as in our new, expanded location,” said Adam Sandow, Founder and CEO of Material Bank. “Their innovative technology has helped us support increased demand, easily scaling for growth and delivering a fast ROI.”

“The decision to add Locus to our ecommerce fulfilment operations has proven to be an ideal choice as we have seen efficiency gains and productivity gains,” said Branden McCauley, Engineering Project Manager at Radial. “The ease of use and associate support attributed to our ability to seamlessly scale up operations to meet the explosion of ecommerce volume over the past year, especially during peak times, without needing to change our workflows or adding labour costs.”

Locus’s powerful business intelligence helps customers manage their business operations in real time. Accessible from anywhere, managers can review a wide range of dashboards using their phones or laptops, while employees can monitor performance on displays right on the warehouse floor.

Locus’s patented, proprietary software and intuitive user interface seamlessly integrate into both existing and new warehouse environments improving the efficiency of both inbound (“putaway”) and outbound (“picking”) fulfilment. Locus robots can be configured to carry a wide variety of items. Patented technology automatically recognises workers, and the robot’s large screen displays information in the worker’s preferred language, facilitating greater productivity and reduced error rates. Locus’s innovative “Gamification” feature displays individual performance statistics to help motivate workers to greater achievement. The Locus solution includes real-time analytics, dashboards, and reporting to customers to maximise productivity and support continuous improvement in the warehouse.

In the UK, Locus Robotics announced last year a strategic partnership with Balloon One, a London-based provider of software and supply chain applications for distribution, manufacturing and e-commerce companies.

Global Supply Chain Management Provider Secures Investment

Posted on by Keith McKinley

Ligentia, a global supply chain management provider, has today confirmed that Equistone Partners Europe Limited (“Equistone”), the European mid-market private equity investor, has made a significant investment in the business. The financial terms of the investment are undisclosed.

Founded in 1996 by group CEO Nick Jones, Ligentia has a team of 400+ professionals across 25 locations worldwide. The firm manages the international freight and supply chains for some of the world’s leading retailers, consumer brands and healthcare providers. Ligentia recorded revenues of c. £300m in 2020, representing strong year-on-year growth
which is expected to continue.

The investment from Equistone, with its pan-European network of offices, will support Ligentia in delivering its ambitious growth plans through strategic acquisitions. It will also support the enhanced development of Ligentix; Ligentia’s proprietary customer technology platform. Ligentia will continue to be led by its founder and CEO Nick Jones, who alongside the existing management will also invest in the business.

Nick Jones, Founder and CEO of Ligentia, said: “Ligentia has always had an exceptional ability to adapt according to customer and market requirements and we work hard to ensure that customers drive our strategy and ways of working. Over the past 12 months we have adapted again, as our customers and colleagues around the world have endured some of the most challenging times. Our significant investment in our technology platform means we have been able to not only maintain our service to customers but deliver some substantial change in the way we work. That investment has positioned Ligentia at the forefront of change in our sector.

Our new partnership with Equistone will allow increased investment in our business at a time where there is a considerable awareness of global supply chains and the risks that organisations face without the right visibility systems and partners.

Equistone has an exceptional track record of supporting fast-growth global companies like ours, as well as a deep understanding of the market. We are really excited about this next part of our journey with a valuable partner on board.”

Sebastien Leusch, Investment Director at Equistone Partners Europe, said: “Ligentia has 25 years of experience in global supply chain management with some of the world’s most admired brands. Thanks to its strong management team, the business is known  for its particularly high customer service levels, underpinned by a stand-out technology
platform. This unique combination, at a time where the importance of seamless global supply chain management is particularly heightened, makes this investment a particularly exciting one.

We are therefore delighted to have this opportunity to invest and we look forward to working alongside Nick and the wider team on Ligentia’s next phase of growth and product development.”

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