Panasonic extends Blue Yonder supply chain partnership
Panasonic has made an undisclosed investment in AI and supply chain specialist Blue Yonder.
Valuing the company at $5.5 billion, the investment comes via a secondary sale of shares. It builds upon a strategic relationship between the two companies, including a joint venture in Japan that was announced in April 2019.
Also of interest: Blue Yonder highlights dramatic shift in shopper behaviour during coronavirus crisis
Panasonic will have a 20% minority ownership stake and one seat on the Board of Directors of Blue Yonder. New Mountain Capital and funds managed by Blackstone continue to be majority shareholders.
“I am excited about this collaboration to realise our joint vision for a digital supply chain, where our platform synchronises with Panasonic’s edge offerings to deliver more autonomous, successful business outcomes for retailers, manufacturers and logistics providers,” says Girish Rishi, CEO at Blue Yonder. “We look forward to working within our JV in Japan to deliver tremendous customer value.”
“Modern day supply chains face a number of challenges including rapidly shifting demand, hyper-personalisation of consumer needs, labour shortages and operational inefficiencies,” comments Yasu Higuchi, Representative Director at Panasonic Corporation and CEO at Panasonic’s Connected Solutions Company.
“So by further developing our relationship with Blue Yonder, I believe we will be able to make larger, more transformative contributions to a greater number of customers.”
“In order to do so, we aim to gain a deeper understanding of Blue Yonder’s advanced global solutions and business model so that we can augment and further elevate our own solutions capability. Through this collaboration, we aim to become a global leading provider of frontline process innovation.”
