WiseTech acquires Blume Global for $414mn

WiseTech Global, the developer of logistics execution software CargoWise, has acquired Blume Global, the provider of solutions facilitating intermodal rail in North America, for $414 million.

"Headquartered in the United States, Blume is being acquired from funds managed by Apollo, EQT and other minority shareholders," says a release from WiseTech.

North America is the world’s largest domestic logistics region, and Blume manages intermodal containers and chassis on behalf of six of the seven Class 1 US railroads, ocean carriers and other intermodal equipment providers including global freight forwarders and beneficial cargo owners (BCOs), the release added. "Blume is a high-growth recurring revenue business and is expected to generate FY24 revenues in the range of $65-70 million, representing annual growth of 45-55 percent. Before operational synergies, on a standalone basis, Blume expects to achieve FY24 EBITDA margins of approximately 10 percent and be cash-flow breakeven by the end of FY24."

Richard White, Founder and CEO, WiseTech Global says: “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.”

Pervinder Johar, CEO, Blume Global adds: “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.”

WiseTech customers include over 18,000 of the world’s logistics companies across more than 170 countries, the release added.