Panasonic Corporation recently announced that it is making an equity investment in Blue Yonder, an end-to-end supply chain software provider. The investment via a secondary sale of shares values Blue Yonder at an enterprise value of $5.5 billion. It builds upon a strong strategic relationship between the two companies, including a joint venture in Japan announced in April 2019. Panasonic will have a 20% minority ownership stake and one seat on the Board of Directors of Blue Yonder.
The expanded partnership between Panasonic and Blue Yonder will accelerate the promise of the Autonomous Supply Chain. Harnessing the edge via the Internet of Things, Blue Yonder’s platform utilizes machine learning to drive faster, more context-aware business decisions. 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 bringing forth new, jointly-developed solutions on the Blue Yonder Luminate Platform that enhance customers’ capabilities for supply and demand forecasting, inventory and labor optimization and streamlining business operations.
“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,” said Yasu Higuchi, Representative Director of Panasonic Corporation and CEO of Panasonic’s Connected Solutions Company. “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.”
“I am excited about this collaboration to realize our joint vision for 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.”
About Panasonic
Panasonic Corporation is a global leader developing innovative technologies and solutions for wide-ranging applications in the consumer electronics, housing, automotive, and B2B sectors. The company, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2018, operates 528 subsidiaries and 72 associated companies worldwide and reported consolidated net sales of 7.49 trillion yen for the year ended March 31, 2020. Committed to pursuing new value through collaborative innovation, the company uses its technologies to create a better life and a better world for customers.
About Blue Yonder
Blue Yonder (formerly JDA Software) provides seamless, friction-free commerce, empowering every organization and person on the planet to fulfill their potential. Blue Yonder’s machine learning-driven digital fulfillment platform enables clients to deliver to their customers when, how and where they want it. Applying over 35 years of domain expertise, contextual intelligence and data science, Blue Yonder is helping more than 3,300 of the world’s leading manufacturers, retailers and logistics companies create more autonomous, sustainable and profitable operations.
