Trade and transport logistics software giant WiseTech Global has started 2023 with a bang by making its largest acquisition to date, buying US transport management system software company Envase Technologies for $US230 million ($A325 million).
Envase is a New Hampshire-based provider of transport management system software for intermodal trucking, drayage (container haulage), and landside logistics.
WiseTech bought the firm from its owners, the private investment firm Firmament and a small number of other owners.
The firm’s 1,300 customers across North America include trucking companies, ports, depots, and warehouses. Envase expects to generate $US35 million of revenue for the calendar year 2023, according to the statement from WiseTech.
Since listing on April, 2016, WiseTech has been a highly acquisitive and has done more than 40 deals.
Before the Envase deal, WiseTec had picked up a number of companies in the past couple of years – the US’s Shipamax, SISA Studio Informatic of Switzerland, Ready Korea from South Korea, Depot Systems from the US, Xware from Sweden, Norway’s Systema and Containerchain from Singapore.
Its flagship software CargoWise is a global logistics management platform, designed to help companies manage tariffs, regulation and taxes across the world.
Envase’s technology is expected to complement the CargoWise global network.
“This is a strategically significant acquisition in landside logistics, which extends and strengthens our position in one of our six key CargoWise development priority areas, and we’re extremely pleased to have the Envase team join the WiseTech Global group,” Richard White, founder and CEO of WiseTech Global, said in a release.
WiseTech said 70% of the deal will be funded by cash on hand (US$161 million), while the other 30% will be paid for with new WiseTech Global shares (US$69 million).
One-off transaction costs of around $US10 million will be funded from existing cash on hand and the purchase is expected to be settled next month.
WiseTech shares ended Wednesday up 0.9% at $A56.10.
At that level WiseTech has a market value of $A18.3 billion, not bad for a company that was valued at a ‘heady’ $1 billion when it floated on the ASX in April, 2016.
WiseTech releases its December 2022 interim results on February 22.
