SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA: WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC), developer of the leading logistics execution software CargoWise, announced its acquisition of Blume Global, provider of a leading solution facilitating intermodal rail in North America, for US$414 million.

Headquartered in the United States, Blume Global is being acquired from funds managed by Apollo, EQT and other minority shareholders.

North America is the world’s largest domestic logistics region, and Blume manages intermodal containers and chassis on behalf of 6 of the 7 Class 1 US railroads, ocean carriers and other intermodal equipment providers including global freight forwarders and Beneficial Cargo Owners (BCOs).

Blume is a high-growth recurring revenue business and is expected to generate FY242 revenues in the range of US$65 million to US$70 million representing annual growth of 45% to 55%.

Before operational synergies, on a standalone basis, Blume expects to achieve FY24 EBITDA margins of approximately 10% and be cash flow breakeven by the end of FY24.

WiseTech expects to fund the transaction via a combination of US$134.8 million from existing cash reserves, US$155.0 million of debt from new facilities and US$124.2 million new WiseTech Global shares issued to the vendors. This represents a funding mix of 70% cash and 30% WiseTech Global shares.

The WiseTech Global shares issued to the vendors will be subject to 12-month escrow agreements from the date of completion. In addition, one-off transaction costs of approximately US$10 million will be funded from existing cash reserves. On completion of the transaction, WiseTech Global expects to have available liquidity of approximately $400 million from existing cash reserves and undrawn debt facilities in addition to ongoing strong free cash flow generation.

The transaction is subject to customary conditions precedent including receipt of US regulatory approval and is expected to complete in April 2023.

Richard White, Founder and CEO of WiseTech Global, 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.”

Blume Global’s CEO Pervinder Johar 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.”