Körber acquires HighJump – a leading US-American supply chain and cloud solutions specialist
|Acquisition will create leading international provider in the cloud supply chain
management application segments HighJump provides Körber with a stronger foothold in the US and an advanced software platform for growth within the organization HighJump forms a further US competence center for group-wide
digitization initiatives
Hamburg/Minneapolis, August 30, 2017. International technology group Körber reinforces its Business Area Logistics Systems with the acquisition of the US-American supply chain software specialists HighJump. The acquisition has been completed with effect from August 28, 2017, after receiving approval from the relevant antitrust authorities.
HighJump specializes in the development of software solutions for supply chain management (SCM). The company is headquartered in Minneapolis, USA. HighJump has additional operations in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and China. HighJump serves over 4,000 customers across the retail, consumer products, automotive, aerospace, pharmaceutical and food/beverage industries.
HighJump has developed a cloud-ready underlying technology platform called the “HighJump One Platform” which is consistently recognized for being one of the industry’s most flexible and adaptable supply chain software platforms. On top of this technology platform the company offers globally leading software applications that provide customers with an integrated view of their entire supply chain: from warehouse management and intralogistics to transport management. The platform enables consistent visibility of all goods flows, with excellent adaptability, and the synchronization of business processes across all channels.
With the acquisition of HighJump and the software companies Inconso, DMLogic and Aberle Software, which already belong to the Körber Group, the Group underlines its claim to be the technology leader in the SCM software segment. „With the acquisition of HighJump we are really putting down a marker in the sector as we are taking a leading international position in the areas of supply chain management and cloud solutions,” says Stephan Seifert, Chairman of the Group Executive Board at Körber AG. „We want to be the go-to company worldwide for our customers when it comes to providing support for their successful business development. With its experienced team of experts and its broad customer base HighJump will strengthen our long-term internationalization and growth trajectory. At the same time we are establishing another competence center in the important North American market. In this process, the expertise and experience of our new colleagues will support our group-wide digitization initiatives through mutual exchange within the Group,” emphasizes Seifert.
„Only recently, with the acquisition of the US-American logistics software specialists DMLogic, we already gained an important partner for our Business Area,” says Hubert Kloß, CEO of the Business Area Logistics Systems. „With our new HighJump colleagues on board, we now have a very solid basis, both in Europe and the USA, to continue our dynamic growth rapidly and successfully. The company will be integrated into the Business Unit Software within our Business Area and is another perfect addition to our portfolio.”
“Körber AG will be a tremendous long-term strategic and financial partner for HighJump,” says Chad Collins, CEO of HighJump. “The leaders from Körber demonstrated their commitment to customer satisfaction, market leadership through technology and long-term business focus. This is very consistent with HighJump’s business philosophy. We look forward to collaborating with our new colleagues from the Business Area Logistics Systems such as Inconso, Aberle Software and DMLogic and the entire Körber Group to establish a market leading position in this ever-changing supply chain environment.”
The purchase of HighJump will be from its parent company, Accellos Holdings and its primary investor, Accel-KKR, a technology focused investment firm. Both parties agreed not to disclose details of the purchase price. TrueCommerce, a cloud based business-to-business commerce network and former sister company to HighJump will continue to be owned by Accellos Holdings and Accel-KKR.
About Körber
Körber AG is the holding company for an international technology Group with approx. 11,500 employees around the world. The Group comprises leading-edge technology companies and more than 130 production, service, and sales entities. At locations around the globe, Körber combines the benefits of a globally-present organization with the strengths of highly-specialized, flexible, medium-sized enterprises that offer their customers solutions, products, and services in the Business Areas of Automation, Logistics Systems, Machine Tools, Pharma Systems, Tissue, Tobacco and Corporate Ventures.
About HighJump
HighJump is a global provider of supply chain management software that streamlines the flow of inventory and information from supplier to store shelf. With approx. 440 employees worldwide HighJump supports more than 4,000 customers in 66 countries, ranging from SME business to marquee global enterprises. HighJump’s functionally rich and highly adaptable end-to-end solutions efficiently manage customers’ warehousing, manufacturing, transportation, distribution, delivery routes and retail stores.
About Körber Logistics Systems
The Business Area Logistics Systems, belonging to the international technology group Körber and based in Bad Nauheim, Germany, is the leading provider of fully integrated applications for the optimization of complex internal and external logistics processes. Under the umbrella brand Körber Logistics, the Business Area provides digital solutions for smart factories (production logistics), warehouses, e-commerce, and the management of entire supply chains. In three Business Units, the umbrella brand unites the companies Aberle GmbH and Consoveyo S.A. (System Integration), Langhammer GmbH and Riantics A/S (Product Solutions), Inconso AG, Aberle Software GmbH and DMLogic LLC (Software). They offer an extensive range of products and services, from system integration to technologies for storage, palletizing, de-palletizing and conveyor systems, through to software.
About Accel-KKR
Accel-KKR is a technology-focused investment firm with over $4.0 billion in capital commitments. The firm focuses on software and IT-enabled businesses well-positioned for topline and bottom-line growth. At the core of Accel-KKR’s investment strategy is a commitment to developing strong partnerships with the management teams of its portfolio companies and a focus on building value through significant resources available through the Accel-KKR network. Accel-KKR focuses on middle-market companies and provides a broad range of capital solutions including buyout capital, minority-growth investments, and credit alternatives. Accel-KKR also invests across a wide range of transaction types including private company recapitalizations, divisional carve-outs and going-private transactions. Accel-KKR is headquartered in Menlo Park with additional offices in Atlanta and London.
About TrueCommerce
TrueCommerce revolutionizes trading partner connectivity by linking suppliers, retail hubs and end consumers in one global commerce network. TrueCommerce’s Global Commerce Network includes over 92,000 pre-connected retailers, distributors and logistics service providers. With flexible, integrated and fully managed service solutions, customers of any size can easily connect with any trading partner while enjoying the peace of mind of a proven service platform that reliably handles tens of millions of transactions annually without the need for any customer interaction. From the factory to the warehouse, from distributor to retail storefront, customers are able to achieve new levels of business connectivity and performance with the world’s most complete trading partner platform.
Further information is available at www.koerber.de/en, www.koerber-logistics.com/en, www.highjump.com, www.accel-kkr.com, and www.truecommerce.com.