By Stuart Condie

SYDNEY--Logistics-software provider WiseTech Global agreed to buy U.S.-listed e2open in a US$2.1 billion deal that the Australian company's co-founder said will accelerate its strategic development by at least a decade.

WiseTech, which services more than 16,500 logistics providers, has long said it aims to be the operating system for global goods trade.

It said Monday that the largest acquisition in its 30-year history will add complementary capabilities and significantly expand its total addressable market.

"We have more canvas to paint on, and more paint to paint," said co-founder Richard White, WiseTech's executive chair.

"This is a step up in capability, a step up in global reach, a step up in adjacent areas that we would have had to get to over a long time for a lot of money in a high-risk environment."

WiseTech has both built and bought as it expanded its customer base to include 41 of the top 50 global third-party logistics providers, and 24 of the 25 largest global freight forwarders.

It has spent about US$1.2 billion on 55 acquisitions across the past decade. Its largest previous acquisition was the US$414 million purchase of intermodal rail-solutions provider Blume Global in 2023.

WiseTech will fund the US$3.30-a-share acquisition of e2open and its supply-chain optimization platform through a new US$3 billion syndicated debt facility from international and domestic lenders, some of which are new to WiseTech.

WiseTech expects to complete the transaction some time in the six months through December. It has already secured the written backing of shareholders representing more than 50% of voting rights.

The cloud-based e2open platform connects more than 500,000 manufacturing, logistics, channel and distribution partners, tracking more than 18 billion transactions every year.

WiseTech said combining e2open's capabilities with that of its existing software would help customers further eliminate inefficiencies.

The acquisition also nearly doubles WiseTech's annual revenue, albeit at a lower earnings margin. WiseTech reported US$683.7 million in revenue across its last fiscal year, compared with e2open's US$607.7 million.

WiseTech expects to achieve at least US$50 million in annualized run-rate cost synergies by the end of its second year of ownership, pointing to supplier consolidation, removal of duplication and the removal of U.S. public company costs.

Stripping out about US$40 million of transaction costs, WiseTech said it expects annual earnings margin at the top end of its 50%-51% guidance range. WiseTech is scheduled to report results for the 12 months through June in August.

Write to Stuart Condie at stuart.condie@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 25, 2025 21:51 ET (01:51 GMT)

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