WiseTech Global buys supply chain orchestration software firm Blume Global

WiseTech Global has acquired Blume Global, a California-based multimodal supply-chain orchestration software provider, for a consideration of $414 million.

Blume Global has built a solution that facilitates intermodal rail across North America.

The company is being bought from funds controlled by Apollo, EQT, and other minor shareholders, said WiseTech Global, which is an Australia-based company that has created a logistics execution software known as CargoWise.

Blume Global handles intermodal chassis and containers for six of the 7 Class 1 US railroads, ocean carriers, as well as other equipment providers for intermodal transportation, including global freight forwarders and beneficial cargo owners (BCOs).

The multimodal supply-chain orchestration company is anticipated to bring in FY24 revenues between $65 million and $70 million, which is an annual increase of between 45 and 55 percent.

WiseTech Global acquires supply chain orchestration software firm Blume Global. Photo courtesy of WiseTech Global.

Richard White — WiseTech Global Founder and CEO 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.”

Before the operational synergies are realized, as a stand-alone entity, Blume Global expects to achieve FY24 EBITDA margins of around 10% and will be cash flow break-even by the end of the fiscal year 2024.

Pervinder Johar — Blume Global CEO 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.”

The deal with Blume Global follows the recent $230 million acquisition by WiseTech Global of Envase Technologies, a US-based provider of transport management system software for intermodal trucking, drayage, and landside logistics.