It’s been an active year so far when it comes to ERP consolidation and vendor mergers/acquisitions. As an example of these changes in the market, earlier this year ERP vendor Rootstock acquired Cloud ERP developer Kenandy.
The most recent news comes from Aptean, a global provider of enterprise software solutions. Aptean recently announced it acquired IndustryBuilt Ltd., a leading provider of industry-specific ERP solutions.
As noted by Aptean in their announcement, the acquisition of IndustryBuilt extends Aptean’s capabilities in the food and beverage market, a key growth area for the company.
IndustryBuilt’s core product is JustFood, a comprehensive ERP solution purpose-built for food and beverage manufacturers and distributors. The company also offers EquipSoft, an ERP solution for equipment dealerships that helps optimize rentals, service, sales, parts and fleet management activities. Both products are built on the Microsoft ® Dynamics platform and are offered both on-premise and in the cloud.
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Ultra’s Take
Any news of ERP consolidation and acquisition is a noteworthy development for food and beverage project teams entering into ERP selection.
As Aptean’s announcement notes, the food and beverage industry is a strategic growth segment for Aptean. Aptean will be able to offer a more complete suite of solutions for food and beverage manufacturers and continue the significant momentum that both products have built in the market.
Aptean’s acquisition is reflective of a growing and changing food and beverage mid-market landscape. As new distribution, product and market forces come into play, new competitors are emerging in the food/bev mid-market, taking market share away from the large “Big Food” producers such as Kraft, Pepsico, General Mills and other dominant players. These mid-market firms will be on the lookout for enterprise systems that streamline and improve their business processes.
In addition, the acquisition opens up options for mid-market companies grappling with growing compliance and product development (R&D) challenges across all segments of the industry.
We’ll keep our eye out in the coming months as Aptean leverages JustFood’s deep industry expertise and SaaS deployment model.
JustFood Commentary on the ERP Consolidation
“By joining Aptean and becoming part of a larger organization, we’ll gain access to new geographic markets as well as considerable capabilities that will help us accelerate product innovation and continue to increase our customer base,” said David Pilz, CEO of IndustryBuilt.
Continues Pilz, “In the end, our JustFood and EquipSoft customers will have access to more resources than ever before, including Aptean’s vast service and support organizations. Additionally, our customers will be able to benefit from other Aptean solutions that are tailored for both the food and beverage and equipment dealership industries. We’re excited to become part of the Aptean team.”
Technology Investments
Any news of a merger or acquisition as part of ERP consolidation impacts the investments in technology development.
Aptean has stated that it will continue to invest in both Ross and the newly acquired IndustryBuilt products. Their goal is that with both offerings, they can serve the market more broadly and address a wider range of operational complexity.
More than 130 employees of IndustryBuilt, which is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, will join Aptean.
Financial terms of the sale were not disclosed. IndustryBuilt was advised in the transaction by Mooreland Partners.
Learn More
Ultra’s team of independent ERP consultants regularly keeps pace with technology vendor changes, including mergers, acquisitions and ERP consolidation.
Contact Ultra for a look at how changes in the enterprise technology landscape impact your organization.
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