The Supply Chain Matters blog features our 14th in the year 2020 consolidated editions of This Week in Supply Chain Management Tech.
This series presents a brief synopsis of noteworthy supply chain management focused technology news which we believe would be of specific interest to our global-based blog readership. Our previous posting of this series occurred on November 10th.
Included in this capsulated edition are highlights of noteworthy announcements and/or developments from:
FedEx Corp. to Acquire ShopRunner
XPO Logistics To Split
Loadsmart Raises $90 Million Funding Round
TrueCommerce Acquires B2B Gateway
S&P Global to Acquire IHS Markit
New Executive Council to Establish LTL Digitization Standards
FedEx Corp. to Acquire ShopRunner
Global parcel logistics and transportation services provider FedEx Corp. announced that it has agreed to acquire ShopRunner, and online platform that singularly connects consumers among multiple select online retailers in a singular experience.
Terms of the deal have not been disclosed. FedEx has indicated intent to close this transaction by the end of this year subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approval. Reportedly, ShopRunner will operate as an operating subsidiary of the global parcel carrier.
According to the announcement, ShopRunner’s capabilities will complement and expand the FedEx e-commerce portfolio and are expected to create increased value for brands, merchants, and consumers. Headquartered in Chicago, the online provider reportedly connects more than 100 brands and merchants to millions of consumers and offers a seamless shopping experience from inspiration through delivery. Members enjoy benefits including free two-day shipping, free returns, member-exclusive discounts, and seamless checkout.
XPO Logistics To Split
Bloomberg reported that XPO Logistics, a large provider of warehousing, trucking and last-mile services plans to split the corporation into two separate, publicly traded companies. According to the report, the global contract logistics business will be spun out from trucking and freight brokerage operations.
The split is expected to occur by the second-half of 2021, subject to conditions and refinancing of existing debt. The development follows a strategi review conducted earlier this year to evaluate possible sale or spinoff of one or more business units.
The planned transaction will reportedly be tax-free to XPO shareholders who would ultimately own stock in both companies.
According to data from Armstrong Associates based on square-foot usage, XPO is the second-largest North American warehousing provider. SJ Consulting Group indicates that XPO is the third largest less-than-truckload services provider by 2019 revenues.
The announcement is being viewed as a reversal of a previous corporate growth strategy that focused on many acquisitions.
Loadsmart Raises $90 Million Funding Round
Digital freight-booking services provider Loadsmart has closed a reported $90 million Series C funding round led by BlackRock’s Innovation Capital group. Other investors included TFI International and global container shipping giant A.P. Moeller-Maersk. The latter firm participated in previous Loadsmart funding rounds and is a reported user of the company’s services.
The company has reportedly raised over $146 million since its founding in 2014 and expects to turn profitable by 2023.
Reportedly, this new funding will be utilized to accelerate technical staffing addressing the integration of digital trucking services and to deepen services offerings for other transportation modes. Loadsmart’s CEO indicated to The Wall Street Journal that the provider’s goal is be a one-stop destination for firms shipping among multiple modes of transport including ocean and less-than-truckload shipments.
TrueCommerce Acquires B2B Gateway
TrueCommerce, a global provider of trading partner connectivity and integration services, has announced the acquisition of B2BGateway, a global provider of managed Cloud services for Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and API data connectivity to suppliers, manufacturers and retailers.
B2BGateway’s services support mid-market companies and provide integration with leading Accounting/ERP software applications including QuickBooks, SAP, NetSuite, Sage, Microsoft Dynamics, and others. The provider’s global footprint covers North America, Europe, and Australia.
The acquisition reportedly fuels TrueCommerce’s global growth with expanded services and integrations with leading business systems, such as Xero, Skubana, Exact, and Mamut. Furthermore, the addition of B2BGateway increases TrueCommerce’s significant presence in the NetSuite, Acumatica, and QuickBooks segments.
S&P Global to Acquire HIS Markit
S&P Global has agreed to acquire quantitative market analysis firm IHS Market Ltd. reportedly for $39 billion in an all-stock transaction. The combined company will be led by S&P Global’s Chief Executive Officer.
Research company IHS Markit provides market forecasts to large global companies along with pricing for bonds and other financial instruments. Supply chain management teams may recognize the firm as the producer of many global-wide Production and Manufacturing Indices (PMI) reports among global regions which Supply Chain Matters often references.
Bloomberg indicating in its reporting that S&P is paying a hefty premium for the IHS business, upwards of ten times Ebida.
The deal is reportedly expected to undergo rigorous regulatory review.
New Executive Council to Establish LTL Digitization Standards
A group of transportation executives and thought leaders have announced that they have brought together 20+ organizations to support and evolve the Less-Than-Truckload industry. The Digital LTL Council brings together carriers, logistics service providers, shippers and technology providers with the sole focus of developing a set of uniform standards that support the scalable automation and digitalization of LTL shipments.
Early results from the council indicate that once manufacturers or distributors digitize the LTL shipment lifecycle, “they’ll see an average of 2 to 4-percent cost savings per shipment. That total value delivered is comprised of many critical factors including increased network efficiency and on-time performance, reduced safety stock levels, decreased dwell times, improved carrier performance and heightened human resource efficiency,” stated Christian Piller, Vice President of Value Engineering at project44. The benefits to carriers are reportedly in automation or elimination of certain administrative, bill entry and customer service tasks, saving up to 1.3 percent of their current costs. This equates to industry savings of potentially $470 million.
The Digital LTL Council’s research, case studies and other information can be garnered by visiting: https://info.digitalltlcouncil.com/.
This concludes our latest edition of This Week in Supply Chain Management Tech.
An Added Note to Readers– Supply Chain Matters will feature our capsule views of This Week in Supply Chain Tech highlight series periodically as announcements warrant.
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