Capping a relationship going back three years, Panasonic will acquire supply chain software firm Blue Yonder, formerly JDA Software. It formally joins together Panasonic’s edge computing, sensor and IoT capabilities with Blue Yonder’s autonomous supply chain solution, solving complex logistics and fulfillment challenges.
A former Macy’s executive and a Wall Street veteran have teamed up to start a retail acquisition and advisory group that’s looking to build up a stable of purpose-driven brands it can help scale and grow globally. The group launched with the acquisition of distressed Canadian apparel brand Frank and Oak, which closed on Oct. 8.
Just two months after announcing it was exploring strategic alternatives, including selling off one or more of its business units but keeping its LTL services intact, the company pulled this option off the table due to the effects of the coronavirus on markets. XPO had been looking at divestiture after a two-year, $8 billion acquisition spree.
The value of global retail industry mergers and acquisitions (M&A) soared in Q4 2019 to a total of $25.66 billion, according to UK-based data and analytics company GlobalData. That total value represents a 38.4% increase over Q3 and was up 160.7% compared with the average of $9.93 billion over the last four quarters.
Supply chain management solutions provider HighJump acquired cloud-based ecommerce platform firm Nexternal; HighJump merged with competitor Acellos in 2014.