Dive Brief:
- Geodis will acquire a New Jersey-based logistics firm to significantly expand its U.S. presence in contract logistics and last-mile delivery, according to a press release last Tuesday.
- The France-based 3PL said Need It Now Delivers will bolster its last-mile and omnichannel logistics capabilities, providing a nationwide network with 300 distribution points. Financial details were not disclosed.
- Geodis expects to finalize the deal by the end of this year, pending regulatory approval. “The acquisition of Need It Now Delivers is a key step through which we will strengthen and diversify our offerings in the U.S., providing our customers with a global and integrated end-to-end freight network,” said CEO Marie-Christine Lombard.
Dive Insight:
The acquisition is set to boost Geodis’s e-commerce services portfolio, particularly in the eastern United States.
“We’re already in the major distribution locations,” Geodis Executive Vice President of Transportation Jeff McDermott told Supply Chain Dive on Tuesday. “[Need It Now] has 65 company locations and 300 distribution points that fulfill last-mile delivery capabilities, so it matches up nicely with the existing Geodis network,” he added.
Last year, the global transportation and logistics provider ramped up its e-commerce services with the launch of a fulfillment service for direct-to-consumer brands in the U.S. The service allows brands to store inventory or fulfill orders from four Geodis eLogistics hubs nationwide.
McDermott noted the New Jersey logistics firm has strength in “the big and bulky” last-mile delivery, a space larger carriers including J.B. Hunt have delved into with acquisitions of their own. Need It Now also serves the retail, healthcare and automotive industries that are “rapidly growing in e-commerce areas and fit nicely with Geodis,” he said.
Expanding demand for omnichannel services is among the "growth areas of e-commerce where Need It Now can help us focus," said McDermott.
