Inbound Logistics | January 2024

NOTED >M&A

> SEALED DEALS

n AIT has acquired Mach II Shipping Ltd, a U.K.-based freight forwarder specializing in worldwide distribution of pharmaceuticals and related products. The deal includes two locations in the Netherlands and the U.K., as well as a global network of life sciences partners extending across 30 countries. n Cheetah signed a letter of intent to purchase Edward Transit Express Group, a global inbound non-vessel operating common carrier providing ocean and air transportation services. n Canada Cartage Corporation will acquire The GTI Group, which provides a range of supply chain services including brokerage, transportation management, and freight forwarding for oversized and heavy-haul freight. n Generix Group and DDS have joined forces to provide a supply chain digitization oering that covers all flows of goods and data, from procurement to invoicing and payment. n Riverstone Logistics has acquired Ralph’s Transfer Co. , a final-mile logistics provider based in Tampa. n Transportation | Warehouse Optimization will acquire ProvisionAI, which provides a patented, optimized replenishment transportation scheduling solution named LevelLoad .

• To gain greater visibility across its supply chain through suppliers and help identify responsible sourcing and business continuity risks,

fashion retailer New Look partnered with TrusTrace, a global SaaS company with a platform for supply chain traceability and compliance data management.

• U.K.-based activewear brand AYBL replaced paper- based picking and manual

fulfillment practices with Descartes’ ecommerce warehouse management system. As a result, AYBL has doubled its fulfillment capacity with existing staff and can scale to fulfill 70,000+ daily orders during peak season. • Heura, a plant-based meat production company, selected ToolsGroup to help achieve the planning speed and accuracy necessary to transform its supply operations and meet the growing demands of its global expansion.

• KiK, a German discount retailer with more than 4,100 locations across Europe, has adopted TradeBeyond as its multi- enterprise platform to digitalize its supply chain operations. KiK will use TradeBeyond’s CBX platform to optimize its supply chain end-to-end, starting with its sourcing, tendering, order collaboration, and inspection processes

• Bamboo Rose entered a joint project with retail giant Walmart to develop and implement an enterprise sourcing platform (ESP) to bring together disparate systems, improve efficiencies, and help the company stay true to its mission of everyday low cost.

n CN has signed and closed an agreement to acquire Iowa Northern Railway , which operates approximately 275 track miles in Iowa connecting to CN’s U.S. rail network.

• Electrical parts distributor Van Meter is leveraging 18 vertical lift modules from Kardex Remoter to support growth. Since implementation, Van Meter has increased picking throughput by 25%, reduced labor costs by 21%, and increased accuracy to 99.99%.

34 Inbound Logistics • January 2024