Acquisition accelerates Zebra’s Enterprise Asset Intelligence vision by expanding its growing retail and consumer packaged goods (CPG) software portfolio
Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ: ZBRA), an innovator at the front line of business with solutions and partners that deliver a performance edge, today announced it intends to acquire antuit.ai, a provider of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions specific to forecasting and merchandising for the retail and CPG industries.
Antuit.ai, owned by a consortium led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management, utilizes AI and machine learning algorithms to ensure its customers have the right product in the right place, at the right time, at the right price based on the current state of the supply chain, store inventory, and consumer demand. Incorporating antuit.ai’s AI-powered demand forecasting solution into Zebra’s SaaS portfolio will enable retailers and consumer products companies to combine planning and execution to optimize margins and drive revenue growth.
Antuit.ai enables retailers to deliver on their omnichannel strategy by increasing margins with effective prices and promotions, as well as optimizing inventory allocations and order fulfillment. With antuit.ai, consumer products companies can maximize forecast accuracy; anticipate consumer demand to meet retailers’ service level, shelf-level, store-level, and e-commerce orders; optimize pricing and trade promotions; and unify sales, trade and demand planning.
“Through its synergies with our retail store execution portfolio, the acquisition of antuit.ai will further drive our ability to bring the power of AI to our customers, and meet the demands of today’s consumer,” said Anders Gustafsson, Chief Executive Officer of Zebra Technologies. “It will also enable us to offer our customers in the CPG industry an analytics, AI and automation solution that supports more efficient planning and operations with greater visibility across the supply chain. We are excited to welcome the antuit.ai team to the Zebra family.”
Antuit.ai will be the third SaaS company acquired by Zebra that has been recognized as a top solution provider in the RIS Software Leaderboard over the last two years. It will serve as the planning and demand forecasting module within Zebra’s growing retail software portfolio, alongside the analytics and execution solutions currently delivered by Zebra Prescriptive Analytics (ZPA, formerly Profitect) and Reflexis’ Workforce Management and Task Management solutions.
Zebra’s comprehensive retail software portfolio also includes Workforce Connect, a communication and collaboration solution for front-line workers, and SmartCount, a self-directed solution for physical inventory and cycle counts. Together, these solutions help leading retailers across the world achieve even higher levels of performance within their top two expenditures – labor and inventory.
“The antuit.ai team is excited to join Zebra and will add immediate value by bringing innovation, AI talent and industry experts to help our combined customers optimize inventory, maximize fill rates and increase efficiencies,” said antuit.ai’s co-CEO Siva Lakshmanan. “Our AI solutions will influence planning and bridge the gap to execution, enhancing Zebra’s retail and CPG solutions that address associate productivity and inventory management,” said co-CEO Yogesh Kulkarni of antuit.ai.
Zebra’s value proposition to consumer products companies will grow significantly with the addition of antuit.ai alongside the recent launch of its fixed industrial scanning and machine vision portfolio, its acquisition of graphical machine vision software provider, Adaptive Vision, and its recent acquisition of Fetch Robotics.
“Zebra’s focus on visibility and productivity will be enhanced by the acquisition of antuit.ai and expand our customer offerings,” said Bill Burns, Chief Product & Solutions Officer, Zebra Technologies. “With the addition of antuit.ai, Zebra’s growing SaaS portfolio will have a stronger, more attractive value proposition for customers looking for solutions that include advanced planning capabilities alongside the dynamic optimization of labor and inventory across the supply chain.”
Zebra’s go-to-market footprint and vertical market expertise is expected to create substantial synergies as Zebra integrates and invests in the business. Zebra expects to fund the purchase price with cash on hand. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval and is expected to close in 2021. Zebra expects this transaction to have an immaterial impact to earnings in 2021.
Jenner & Block LLP is serving as legal counsel to Zebra. Goodwin Procter LLP is acting as legal counsel and Mizuho Securities USA LLC is acting as financial advisor to antuit.ai.
Zebra Technologies Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements, as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, without limitation, the statements regarding the company’s outlook and the ability to complete the acquisition of Antuit.Ai. Actual results may differ from those expressed or implied in the company’s forward-looking statements. These statements represent estimates only as of the date they were made. Zebra undertakes no obligation, other than as may be required by law, to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed circumstances or any other reason after the date of this release.
These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions and are subject to the risks and uncertainties inherent in Zebra’s industry, market conditions, general domestic and international economic conditions, and other factors. These factors include customer acceptance of Zebra’s hardware and software products and competitors’ product offerings, and the potential effects of technological changes. The continued uncertainty over future global economic conditions, the availability of credit and capital markets volatility may have adverse effects on Zebra, its suppliers and its customers. In addition, a disruption in our ability to obtain products from vendors as a result of supply chain constraints, natural disasters or other circumstances could restrict sales and negatively affect customer relationships. Profits and profitability will be affected by Zebra’s ability to control manufacturing and operating costs. Because of its debt, interest rates and financial market conditions will also have an impact on results. Foreign exchange rates will have an effect on financial results because of the large percentage of our international sales. The outcome of litigation in which Zebra may be involved is another factor. The success of integrating acquisitions could also affect profitability, reported results and the company’s competitive position in its industry. These and other factors could have an adverse effect on Zebra’s sales, gross profit margins and results of operations and increase the volatility of our financial results. When used in this release and documents referenced, the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “outlook,” and “expect” and similar expressions, as they relate to the company or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of identifying these statements. Descriptions of the risks, uncertainties and other factors that could affect the company’s future operations and results can be found in Zebra’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the company’s most recent Form 10-K.
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