Airclic in The News
Airclic, AirVersent Merge
Another mobile supply chain and logistics deal emerges, pairing two East Coast, high-tech platforms.
Airclic and AirVersent, Pennsylvania and Maryland-based companies, both privately-held and operating in the mobile supply chain space, will merge for terms undisclosed, the companies announced.
The deal unites a pair of high-tech logistics operations firms and unites software providers whose net customer base is 270 firms, globally.
Rick Pontin, Airclic’s chief executive before the merger, will remain in the post and Mike Lee, the CEO of AirVersent, became Airclic’s president. Calls seeking comment were not acknowledged by press time.
Plenty of logistics deals have emerged lately, as recent technological breakthroughs have made it more feasible to link systems to each other. Further helping the dealflow along is the slide in valuations many logistics firms experienced as their clients downsized their shipping needs to confront the manufacturing slowdown imposed by the recession.
Austin Ventures acquired a portion of the company’s YRC Logistics business for $37 million earlier this year, and will for a new stand-alone business from the asset.
Vector Capital, the San Francisco-based private equity firm, bought Trafficmaster Plc, the listed, UK-based logistics provider for £73.3 million earlier this year, the latest in a series of take-privates.
Other PE firms buying into the space include Oak Hill Capital Partners, which in April, bought ViaWest from an investor group that included Goldman Sachs, as well as Harbour Group, GenNx360 Capital Partners, Apax Partners and Calera Capital.