Zebra Technologies to Acquire Antuit.ai

 Zebra Technologies (NASDAQ: ZBRA) recenlty 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.

You can click here to read more about Zebra’s recent acquisitions and go-to-market strategy.

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.

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