Panasonic to acquire Blue Yonder for $7.1 bn

• The deal is intended to close by the second half of this fiscal.

April 24, 2021: Panasonic Corporation has agreed to acquire Blue Yonder, the leading end-to-end digital fulfillment platform provider. Panasonic will purchase the remaining 80 percent of shares for $5.6 billion of Blue Yonder, adding to the 20 percent which Panasonic acquired in July 2020. Including repayment of outstanding debt the additional investment totals $7.1 billion, valuing Blue Yonder at $8.5 billion. An agreement to purchase the remaining shares was reached between Panasonic and the existing shareholders New Mountain Capital and funds managed by Blackstone.

This acquisition strengthens Panasonic’s portfolio and accelerates the companies’ shared autonomous supply chain mission, empowering customers to optimise their supply chains using the combined power of AI/ML and IoT and edge devices.

Panasonic CEO Yuki Kusumi, stated, “I’m extremely happy to welcome Blue Yonder and its associates to the Panasonic group. Both companies have the same mission to support customers’ frontline operations and we have a high affinity in our corporate cultures. By merging the two companies, we would like to realise a world where waste is autonomously eliminated from all supply chain operations and the cycle of sustainable improvement continues."

Combining Panasonic’s strength in industrial engineering, IoT and edge technologies with Blue Yonder’s AI/ML-driven supply chain and commerce solutions greatly intensifies the customer value of Blue Yonder’s leading digital fulfillment platform. Together, Panasonic and Blue Yonder will deliver a unique competitive advantage for customers to drive more automation and actionable, real-time business insights that reduce waste and improve operations, while creating a more sustainable world.

This acquisition builds on the Panasonic and Blue Yonder strategic relationship, established in January 2019 with a partnership, followed by the creation of a joint venture company in Japan in November 2019.

For the year ended December 31, 2020, Blue Yonder’s total company revenue was over $1 billion, 67 percent of which was recurring revenue.

On April 1, 2022, the Panasonic group will shift to a holding company system concentrating management resources on strategic businesses in key areas such as providing supply chain innovation and automation.

Yasuyuki Higuchi is the CEO of Panasonic’s Connected Solutions Company (to become Panasonic Connect Co. on April 1, 2022) which leads this business area. Blue Yonder CEO Girish Rishi and the extended leadership team will join the new organisation and the Blue Yonder brand will be retained and business will function within the Panasonic Connected Solutions Company umbrella.

Rishi stated, “I am thrilled to announce that Blue Yonder is joining Panasonic. This association came about as a result of three years of working together, first with Panasonic as a Blue Yonder customer and thereafter as joint venture partner. We have developed mutual trust and have a shared vision for an Autonomous Supply Chain that delivers a better life and a better world. As the essential platform for essential times, we are relentlessly focused in fulfilling our customers’ potential.”