Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller–Maersk (Maersk) has acquired Visible Supply Chain Management (Visible SCM), a Salt Lake City-based business-to-consumer (B2C) logistics company focused on B2C parcel delivery and B2C fulfillment services in the U.S.
Concurrent with the Visible SCM purchase, Maersk announced its intention to acquire B2C Europe Holding B.V. (B2C Europe), a business-to-consumer logistics company focused on B2C parcel delivery services in Europe and based in The Netherlands.
“Fast-changing consumer buying patterns and digital platforms are accelerating online consumption, redefining business models across the globe,” a Maersk statement said. “Many Maersk customers are seeing strong e-commerce sales growth as they roll out digital-first strategies and are looking for support of their business-to-consumer supply chain growth. The two acquisitions will address this customer trend and strengthen Maersk’s e-commerce logistics products.”
“Maersk has set out to build strong e-commerce logistics capabilities that will extend and reinforce our existing supply chain offering and create growth opportunities. Today, customers rely on the integrated logistics approach and services which Maersk offers. By combining that with the operating models and value proposition of Visible SCM and B2C Europe, we will enable our customers to continue to develop their e-commerce offering, thus extending the scope and potential of our strategic partnerships,” said Maersk Ocean & Logistics CEO Vincent Clerc. “The acquisitions will provide Maersk with a strong growth platform in the rapidly evolving field of e-commerce, where our investments in digitalization and integration will create significant synergies and make a big difference for customers’ ability to sell across multiple channels effectively.”
“Visible SCM enables e-commerce businesses to ship cost-effectively and deliver quickly so they can compete with the biggest brand names out there today,” the company said. Visible SCM uses a geographical network that places fulfillment centers closer to the consumer, with less distance and faster delivery. Maersk said this new capability and infrastructure asset will improve the agility of Maersk customers, helping them to operate faster in an online shopping space where speed and cost of delivery define consumer buying behavior.
“Integrating our company with Maersk aligns with our values and strategic goal to scale our services to reach more customers with our proven business model,” said Visible SCM’s CEO Jared Starling. “Together we can be a trusted partner across all customers’ supply chains and bring our B2C expertise to Maersk customers with online sales fulfillment, parcel delivery and supply chain visibility in an end-to-end offering.”
Visible SCM operates nine fulfillment centers in the U.S., and handles 200,000 orders a day and enables 200 million parcels a year through its proprietary technology solutions with 99.8 percent order accuracy.