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Tag: takeover

Logistics trio acquire Freight Software Business

Posted on by David Priestman

Following a lengthy due diligence process, the Cardinal Partnership, Davies Turner and Woodland Group have created a holdings company and purchased UK-based freight software company Forward Computers Ltd from the Freight Software Group.

The joint venture is called Forward Computers Alliance Limited and is the vehicle through which the three leading independent freight forwarding and supply chain management companies now jointly own Forward Computers Limited, which trades as Forward Solutions.

Both the Cardinal Partnership and Woodland Group are long-standing clients of Forward Computers, and have been investing and building their own digital logistics software in-house for many years. Davies Turner has been assessing the freight software company’s products as part of an exercise aimed at enhancing its existing freight management systems that have been developed in-house to date.

Freight Software Group acquired Forward Computers Ltd in 2019, with its products rebranded to trade under the Forward Solutions name in 2021, and will continue to own BoxTop Technologies.

Speaking about the reason for the sale, Christopher Hewlett CEO of Freight Software Group (pictured above) said:

“I was excited when two existing clients and a potential client made it clear that they were keen to combine forces to invest in the business, and utilise their huge practical experience in the operation of freight forwarding and supply chain management services to influence the design of next-generation systems. The development will likely result in an increase in the number of staff employed by Forward Computers, which will remain headquartered in Nottingham, whilst having no negative impact on the existing IT structures of the three joint venture partners.”

Speaking on behalf of the new owner, Brian Hay (pictured left), CEO of the Cardinal Partnership said: “We welcome this opportunity to acquire one of the UK’s foremost suppliers of software to the freight transport sector. With hundreds of years’ collective experience in providing multimodal solutions across air, sea, road, and rail freight, the three partners understand how the industry is evolving, and how freight management software needs to evolve alongside to offer a range of processes and systems that deliver success.

“As co-owners, we look forward to supporting Forward Computers in further developing its range of software solutions that help its clients adapt to an ever-changing landscape. Those clients, many of which have business relations with the joint venture’s three owners already, can rest assured that Forward Computers trading under the Forward Solutions brand, will continue to be run as a completely independent business, with client confidentiality assured.”

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Completion of cargo-partner Acquisition

Posted on by Keith McKinley

NIPPON EXPRESS HOLDINGS, INC., is pleased to announce that, in accordance with the share transfer agreement concluded on May 12, 2023 with cargo-partner Group Holding AG and its subsidiaries Multi Transport und Logistik Holding AG, Safer Overseas Transport Holding GmbH, cargo-partner GND GmbH, and CARGO-PARTNER US HOLDINGS INC. (hereinafter collectively referred to as “cargo-partner”), it acquired all shares of several cargo-partner subsidiaries based mainly in Central and Eastern Europe that provide logistics services worldwide on January 4, 2024 through a special purpose company that is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nippon Express Europe GmbH (President: Shinichi Kakiyama), itself a European holding subsidiary of NIPPON EXPRESS HOLDINGS, and completed all procedures required to make these newly-acquired companies subsidiaries of NIPPON EXPRESS HOLDINGS.

Headquartered in Austria, cargo-partner has a robust logistics business base in Central and Eastern Europe, a region that is increasingly attracting attention as an industrial cluster in Europe. It is a highly reputable corporate group focused principally on air and ocean freight forwarding in Europe, Asia, and North America that also offers rail and truck transport and contract logistics services.

The subsidiarization of cargo-partner will complement the NX Group’s logistics infrastructure in Central and Eastern Europe, expected to see significant future growth as a production base within the European region, and will enable the NX Group to further expand its global network and enhance the services it provides in the European region.

The resultant expansion in the volume of air and ocean freight handled will also strengthen the Group’s competitiveness in the global market, enable it to respond to the diverse demands of its global customers, enhance its ability to meet logistics demand between Asia and Europe and elsewhere, and bolster its global account structure.

Since the NX Group and cargo-partner have differing customer bases and differing strengths in specific countries and regions, they will seek to create synergies in their logistics operations through mutual complementation, thereby accelerating the expansion and development of their global businesses.

Going forward, the NX Group and cargo-partner will maximize the synergies they generate as a unified entity to help create value for the NX Group’s customers and stakeholders.

Aptean Acquires 3T Logistics

Posted on by David Priestman

Today, Aptean, a global provider of mission-critical enterprise software solutions, announced its acquisition of 3T Logistics & Technology Group (3T), a provider of cloud-based transportation management systems (TMS) to shippers and carriers in the United Kingdom and broader Europe.

With the acquisition of 3T, Aptean adds new capabilities to its TMS offerings for shippers and carriers serving manufacturers and distributors in the food and beverage, fast-moving consumer goods, industrial machinery, automotive and building product verticals.

Founded in 2000 and based in Leicester, England, 3T delivers solutions that drive cost reductions and service improvements by helping shippers and carriers automate processes, optimize logistics scenarios and attain real-time visibility into every facet of shipping operations. 3T’s modular, app-based ‘EVENT’ platform can be customized to meet the unique business needs of its customers. 3T’s customers also benefit from its logistics and transport management services, based on decades of expertise in the industry.

“Aptean is pleased to expand its TMS offerings in Europe with the addition of 3T’s cloud-based EVENT platform,” said Duane George, GM of EMEA and APAC at Aptean. “In today’s challenging business environment, 3T helps organizations deliver their products with greater speed and efficiency, enabling them to compete a global level.”

“Aptean shares our commitment to innovation and our solutions are highly complementary to Aptean’s existing ERP and SCM offerings for manufacturers and distributors,” said Steve Twydell, Founder and CEO at 3T. “As part of Aptean we will be able to provide our customers with more solutions to enhance efficiencies and improve outcomes across their operations.”

3T is an award-winning UK head-quartered SaaS transport management technology business. The company has evolved to become a globally recognized TMS technology provider. The company’s vision and mission remain the same since its inception, to improve service, reduce cost to shippers and carriers and remove empty running through collaboration and the smart use of technology.

Aptean is one of the world’s leading providers of purpose-built, industry-specific software that helps manufacturers and distributors effectively run and grow their businesses. With both cloud and on-premise deployment options, Aptean is headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia and has offices in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

Setlog and Rhenus Join Forces

Posted on by David Priestman

The software vendor Setlog has been part of the Rhenus Group since October 24th, 2023. Setlog was founded in 2001 by Guido Brackelsberg, Ralf Duester and Jakob Gielen and has since developed into one of the world’s leading software specialists for end-to-end supply chain management solutions.

The digitalization of the supply chain by Setlog is characterized by transparency, consistent data communication without media breaks and the replacement of manual processes. With the Setlog system OSCA, customers can network collaboratively with all partners along their supply chain. Integration via a central platform enables comprehensive communication and data exchange. Holistic control of the end-to-end supply chain is therefore guaranteed at anytime and anywhere.

Both companies already know each other through their collaboration within the non-profit organization Open Logistics Foundation. Setlog and Rhenus see the merger as an opportunity to further expand Setlog’s software solutions, market them worldwide and thus make them accessible to even more industries and customers. “We have always seen ourselves as a reliable partner in exploiting the full potential of our customers’ supply chain.

The merger with Rhenus immediately offers us another opportunity to respond to the constantly changing and increasingly complex requirements in logistics. The affinity of both companies and our complementary skills will therefore promote our growth in the long term,” says Ralf Duester, co-founder and board member of Setlog. He further describes the partnership as a strategic investment through which new solutions for customers can be developed and implemented together. There will be no change in day-to-day business for employees and customers, who primarily come from the Textile & Apparel and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods sectors. The software developer continues to operate independently under its own logo and with its own business. The neutrality of the company is fully maintained and is a prerequisite for further expansion of the business.

Through the partnership, both companies benefit from each other’s expertise. “As Rhenus, we can already look back on a long-standing and excellent partnership with Setlog. With Setlog, we as Rhenus add a missing component to our offering for our customers. The interlinking, complete transparency and control of the supply chain has become increasingly important in recent years, not least due to more volatile markets. We will continue to expand this together with Setlog. We rely on the neutrality of Setlog. This enables us to further develop the software in a flexible and agile manner, as well as to create additional added value for customer-oriented solutions,” says Tobias Koenig, Chief Commercial Officer at Rhenus. “By combining our know-how as a logistics service provider with Setlog’s expertise in state-of-the-art software technology, we can serve our customer bases even better, expand our range and offer new products.”

Setlog Holding is a provider of Supply Chain Management (SCM) solutions. The central product is the cloud-based software OSCA with the solutions Procurement, SRM, Global Logistics, CSR and Quality Control. OSCA, which stands for “Online Supply Chain Accelerator”, is used by more than 150 brands in the apparel, electronics, food, consumer goods and hardware sectors. With the help of OSCA, companies connect their supply chain partners, suppliers and service providers to optimally coordinate their supply chain and efficiently manage supply chains.
Setlog GmbH is a wholly owned subsidiary of Setlog Holding AG. The company was founded in 2001 and is today one of the leading providers of SCM software with over 40,000 users in 92 countries. The software house employs 60 people at its locations in Bochum (headquarters), Cologne and New York.

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.”

Jungheinrich Acquires all Shares in Magazino

Posted on by David Priestman

Hamburg-based intralogistics pioneer Jungheinrich is fully taking over Magazino, a Munich-based robotics specialist. In addition to its shareholding, which has existed since 2020 and was increased to 21.7 percent in 2022, Jungheinrich is acquiring all shares held by the founders as well as the previous co-shareholders, a.o. Cellcom, Fiege Logistik, and Körber. The transaction took effect immediately upon signing this week. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. Magazino will continue to grow as an independent company within the Jungheinrich Group and also in particular make use of the Group’s global sales and service network. The company will remain under the management of both Co-Founders Frederik Brantner and Lukas Zanger as well as Dr Moritz Tenorth.

For Jungheinrich, the full takeover of Magazino is another strategically important step towards strengthening its automation expertise. Founded in 2014, Magazino employs around 130 people and has one of the largest mobile robotics development teams in Europe. The company offers a powerful technology platform that enables logistics robots to also operate in a mixed human-machine environment. As a result, robots are able to intelligently navigate in the warehouse as well as selectively pick up and transport needed objects. Magazino’s system and robots are already in use in warehouses of various industrial customers, online retailers and logistics service providers. The control software for robots in complex logistics environments is also already integrated in Jungheinrich’s EAEa, a fully automated low-lift truck that was initially presented at this year’s LogiMAT intralogistics trade fair.

For Jungheinrich, the merger is an ideal addition as part of the expansion of its business with automated and autonomous vehicles. Going forward, Magazino’s software and development expertise will be even more closely integrated into Jungheinrich’s product development. Magazino gains access to Jungheinrich’s international sales and service network and becomes part of a broad portfolio of intralogistics products and solutions. The Magazino brand will be retained and the company will continue to work with external integration partners and customers.

“We’ve been working closely with Magazino for several years now, we are on par with each other and communicate well. The chemistry is simply right. Now we are taking the next logical step in our cooperation and acquire Magazino in full”, said Dr Lars Brzoska, Chairman of the Board of Management of Jungheinrich. “Magazino is a successful company with a very good management and top experts in the market. It has outstanding software competencies and has developed solutions that have the potential to shape the future of intralogistics in the long term. In the Group, we will leverage these competencies to jointly drive the further development of innovative automation and robotics solutions.”

Frederik Brantner, CEO and Co-Founder of Magazino: “The need for warehouse automation is growing constantly. By steering robots in this complex environment, we have developed a unique expertise that we want to further expand. We would like to thank our previous investors for the trust they have placed in us and for the many years of successful cooperation. They have supported us strategically and financially to date and have made a significant contribution to the further development of our business. Together we have laid the foundation for the next chapter in Magazino’s success story. With Jungheinrich, we will continue to extend our intralogistics technology leadership and expand internationally.”

Seafrigo Acquires Specialist UK Forwarder

Posted on by David Priestman

Seafrigo has acquired the specialist UK-headquartered forwarder Perishables Movements Limited (PML); with the formal signing of the deal taking place in London on July 10th 2023. Effective immediately, all PML employees will join the Seafrigo Group which will provide the group with a platform for future investment and growth in the region.

In the coming months all PML locations will operate using a new co-branding with a view to eventually becoming Seafrigo. PML operates from three locations in Britain: Heathrow, Lincolnshire and Kent and across air, ocean and road forwarding while also offering warehousing and value-added services to customers.

Seafrigo Regional CEO, Jason Knox says: “With its excellent market reputation and our shared expertise in the management and distribution of temperature-controlled goods this deal is the perfect fit for us. Through an expanded airfreight capability which PML will bring to our operation, all our customers will be able to benefit from an improved service offering, expanded geographic coverage, scale of operations, improved buying power and enhanced service solutions”.

Business as usual across PML’s UK network

Adds PML CEO, Mike Parr: “For us this new era is very much business as usual for all our customers. We are delighted to become part of the Seafrigo Group which has more than 40 years’ specialist leadership in the temperature-controlled food logistics market. The deal provides us all with the opportunity to grow and enhance our business and to truly control the global logistics chain from origin to destination for our customers.”

The UK PML operation will plug-in seamlessly to the global Seafrigo network enabling both companies experts in their fields to leverage their knowledge to deliver an even better service for customers.

Says Seafrigo Group CEO, Eric Barbé: “I would like to extend a very warm welcome to our new colleagues from PML. Together we have the synergies and determination to build the world’s leading end-to-end temperature-controlled organisation and I am delighted to have their team onboard”.

Opportunities for global growth

For more than 40 years, Seafrigo Group has positioned itself as the world’s leading specialist in temperature-controlled food logistics. The Le Havre-based Company is experiencing a strong development both in France and internationally. Today, Seafrigo Group has its own infrastructure in 26 countries and has built a network of specialist global partners. Seafrigo Group employs 2,500 committed experts who organize the international transport of goods on five continents on a daily basis. It is also leading authority in controlled global logistics chains including: reception of goods, container drayage, and storage at ambient or controlled temperature, order preparation, container loading management, shipping and delivery to the final recipient. Historically the company has positioned itself as an expert in the fields of food products, wines and spirits and E-Commerce.

cargo-partner Sold to Nippon Express Group

Posted on by David Priestman

As cargo-partner is celebrating its 40th anniversary, company owner and founder Stefan Krauter has decided to sell the Austrian global logistics firm to Japanese stock-listed Nippon Express Holdings, the parent company of Nippon Express, APC, Franco Vago and others. Having started operations in 1983 with only five employees at Vienna Airport and having developed the company almost completely organically to now 4000 employees in 40 countries around the globe, Krauter had already passed on the baton to his management and now has also passed over ownership to his ‘ideal successor’, NX.

After exceeding the billion euro mark in global turnover for the first time in 2020, cargo-partner’s turnover increased by 72%, reaching over 1.8 billion euro in 2021, and further increased to 2.06 billion euro in 2022.

“Leadership by agile founders bears some considerable advantages, but from a certain stage on, highly professional and long-term stable ownership is the bigger asset. It is the founders’ challenge and responsibility to decide about both management and ownership succession at the right time. Not too early to be able to build a stable internal management succession but, for sure, also not too late,” Krauter says. “That is why, together with the Corporate Executive Board, we started evaluating different options for the future of cargo-partner.”

Stefan Krauter continues to explain: “It would also have been a good option for the management and employees to continue going completely alone, but since the ideal new strategic owner was found in NX Group, we were ultimately convinced that this was the right way to go forward. Following the integration policy we have seen from NX Group so far, cargo-partner will remain cargo-partner in regard to both organization and branding – and it will become the strongest cargo-partner ever!”

The deal was signed on May 12, 2023 and will come into effect subject to the usual regulatory (anti-trust and FDI) approvals in an estimated four to seven months along with the subsequent closing.
“Both organizations will benefit from considerable synergies in global office coverage, an expanded service portfolio, strengthened regional, product and IT know-how, increased scale and others. NX Group will benefit from our strong and extensive network in Central and Eastern Europe that complements NX’s existing network in an ideal way, and cargo-partner will jump several leagues in the Intra-Asian and Trans-Pacific trade lanes,” Stefan Krauter states. He adds: “cargo-partner will also continue to work with its current global agents’ network, strive to expand this section of its business and support it in future with its upgraded platform which is presently under development.”

“I will personally continue to support the transition in my new role on the Corporate Supervisory Board and in my advisory function to the Corporate Executive Board. I will be focusing on smart partial integration with the new owners as well as on other matters regarding strategy, M&A and ESG. What an interesting and rewarding challenge at the end of my career!” Krauter says. The sellers have been advised by J.P. Morgan (financial), ValueAdd (financial), BCG (commercial), Schönherr (legal), and Deloitte (accounting and tax) on the transaction.

Nippon Express is a provider of logistics services. It is based in Tokyo and has a strong global network that spans over 40 countries, with company direct operations in 33 nations, such as Austria. The company offers air freight, marine transportation, heavy haulage, warehousing and distribution processing, logistics design, information technology services, chartered truck services and moving services.

CMA CGM in Exclusive Negotiations to Acquire Bolloré

Posted on by David Priestman

The CMA CGM Group announced today that it has entered into exclusive negotiations to acquire the transportation and logistics activities held through Bolloré Logistics.

The negotiations are in line with the CMA CGM Group’s long-term strategy, based on the two pillars of shipping and logistics. The Group’s strategy is to offer end-to-end solutions in support of its customer’s supply chain needs.

If a deal is reached, the acquisition would further strengthen the CMA CGM Group logistics activities. The negotiations in no way guarantee an acquisition in the end.

Led by Rodolphe Saadé, the CMA CGM Group, a global player in sea, land, air and logistics solutions, serves more than 420 ports around the world across 5 continents, with a fleet of 593 vessels. The Group transported 21.7 million TEU containers (twenty-foot equivalent units) in 2022. With its subsidiary CEVA Logistics, a global logistics player which transported 522,000 tonnes of air cargo and more than 22 million shipments of inland freight, and its air cargo division CMA CGM AIR CARGO, the CMA CGM Group is constantly innovating to provide customers a comprehensive and increasingly efficient offering, thanks to new shipping, inland, air freight and logistics solutions. Firmly committed to the energy transition in shipping and a pioneer in its use of alternative fuels, the CMA CGM Group has set a Net Zero-Carbon target for 2050. Each year, via the CMA CGM Foundation, the Group supports thousands of children as part of its efforts to promote education for all and equal opportunities. The CMA CGM Foundation also intervenes in humanitarian crises requiring an emergency response by calling on the Group’s shipping and logistics expertise to deliver humanitarian supplies around the world. Present in 160 countries through its network of more than 400 offices and 750 warehouses, the Group employs 155,000 people worldwide, including nearly 4,000 in Marseille where its head office is located.

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