SYDNEY, Australia – WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC), developer of the leading logistics execution software CargoWise, today announces its acquisition of Blume Global (Blume), provider of a leading solution facilitating intermodal rail in North America, for US$414 million. Headquartered in the United States, Blume is being acquired from funds managed by Apollo, EQT and other minority shareholders.
North America is the world’s largest domestic logistics region[1], and Blume manages intermodal containers and chassis on behalf of 6 of the 7 Class 1 US railroads, ocean carriers and other intermodal equipment providers including global freight forwarders and Beneficial Cargo Owners (BCOs). Blume is a high-growth recurring revenue business and is expected to generate FY24[2] revenues in the range of US$65 million to US$70 million representing annual growth of 45% to 55%. Before operational synergies, on a standalone basis, Blume expects to achieve FY24 EBITDA margins of approximately 10% and be cash-flow breakeven by the end of FY24.
Richard White, Founder and CEO of WiseTech Global, said: “This is another strategically significant acquisition that follows our acquisition of Envase Technologies last month. It further extends our capability in one of our six key CargoWise development priority areas, integrating rail into our landside logistics offering in North America, the most complex and largest logistics region in the world. Blume also brings significant new talent, a portfolio of other valuable product capabilities, and further enhances our product development skill set. This transaction demonstrates WiseTech’s continued investment in its CargoWise ecosystem, improving visibility and process efficiencies end-to-end across the supply chain for our customers.”
Blume Global’s CEO Pervinder Johar said: “Joining the WiseTech Global group means greater scale and resources to make logistics processes more productive, agile, dependable, and sustainable with innovative execution and visibility solutions. We want to thank the team at Apollo for helping to stand up and grow Blume as a standalone company and are thrilled to embark on this next chapter to drive even greater digital innovation in this sector.”
Justin Korval, Partner in Apollo Hybrid Value, and Antoine Munfakh, Partner in Apollo Private Equity, said: “This transaction underscores the tremendous growth of Blume since establishing it as an independent company in 2019. By providing meaningful growth capital and strategic support, Blume’s management team was empowered to pursue an ambitious expansion strategy and successfully develop an industry leading supply-chain technology platform. We wish Pervinder and the entire team the best in this exciting next chapter.”
Further information on this acquisition and WiseTech’s performance and outlook will be provided at the Company’s half year earnings briefing at 10am on 22 February 2023 (AEDT). Please register here.
[1] Logistics Market: Global Industry Analysis and Forecast (2022-2029) (maximizemarketresearch.com).
[2] Year end 30 June 2024.