Panasonic Corp.’s equity investment in Blue Yonder, the end-to-end supply chain software provider, has been made via a secondary sale of shares values at an enterprise value of $5.5 billion. The investment gives Panasonic a 20 percent minority ownership stake and one seat on the board of directors of Blue Yonder.
The partnership builds upon a strong relationship between the two companies, including a joint venture in Japan announced in April of last year.
“Modern-day supply chains face a number of challenges including rapidly shifting demand, hyper-personalization of consumer needs, labor shortages and operational inefficiencies, so by further developing our relationship with supply chain software specialists Blue Yonder, I believe we will be able to make larger, more transformative contributions to a greater number of customers,” stated Yasu Higuchi, representative director of Panasonic Corp. and chief executive officer of Panasonic’s Connected Solutions Co. “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.”
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The investment, said Kazuhiro Tsuga, ceo of Panasonic Corp., will be a step for the business transformation that Panasonic’s Connected Solutions Co. is undertaking.
Together, the companies will work to accelerate Blue Yonder’s AI/ML platform to drive faster, more context-aware business decisions for global supply chains and accelerate the promise of the Autonomous Supply Chain. Blue Yonder and Panasonic will combine resources and work closely with partner companies in Japan to fuel growth by selling Blue Yonder’s Luminate solutions and present jointly developed solutions.
“I am excited about this collaboration to realize our joint vision for a digital supply chain — where Blue Yonder’s platform synchronizes with Panasonic’s edge offerings to deliver more autonomous, successful business outcomes for retailers, manufacturers and logistics providers,” said Girish Rishi, ceo of Blue Yonder. “We look forward to working within our Joint Venture in Japan to deliver tremendous customer value.”
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