Turkey : WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC) (OTCMKTS:WTCHF) today announced the acquisition of Ulukom, a leading logistics and customs solutions provider in Turkey.
Headquartered in Istanbul, Ulukom offers a range of logistics, customs, freight forwarding and warehouse solutions included in its Logistics Information Management System, which is designed to carry out financial and operational transactions on an integrated platform. Ulukom’s customers include MSC, Maersk, CMA-CGM, APL, Çelebi Ground Handling, Arkas Line, ONE, Panalpina and CEVA Logistics, and many other logistics providers and organisations.
WiseTech Global Founder and CEO, Richard White, said “As the bridge between Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and one of the EU’s largest trading partners, Turkey has long been a key market in the region and globally. Ulukom brings valuable experience, management and industry knowledge to the WiseTech Global group, which will deepen our reach in this important Eurasian market. Combining Ulukom’s Turkish logistics and customs expertise with our wider global innovation capabilities will help deliver better solutions to more logistics service providers.”
Since 1987, Ulukom has delivered industry breakthroughs to the Turkish market including the first e-signature and mobile-based cargo manifest and detailed customs declaration, Turkey’s first ERP for port and ship transit agencies and Turkey’s first ERP with vehicle load and route optimization.
Ulukom’s Managing Director, Erkin Findik, said “We have a shared vision with WiseTech to build out logistics and customs solutions that will enhance the supply chain and improve trade. As part of the WiseTech Global group we will be able to increase our development and deliver even higher productivity, integrated and automated solutions to our customers, which will benefit the broader Turkish market.”
Ulukom’s R&D Director, Ilker Pakten, said “Ulukom has over three decades of logistics and customs management experience which combined with the WiseTech Global group will create benefits for logistics service customers of all sizes in Turkey and the surrounding markets in this region.”
Remaining under the leadership of Ilker Pakten and Erkin Findik, Ulukom’s operations will be integrated within the WiseTech Global group and Ulukom will continue to deliver its software solutions directly to its own customers, along with WiseTech’s integrated global logistics platform, CargoWise One.
CargoWise One enables logistics service providers to execute highly complex transactions in areas such as freight forwarding, customs clearance, warehousing, shipping, tracking, land transport, ecommerce, and cross-border compliance and to manage their operations on one database across multiple users, functions, countries, languages and currencies.
This transaction follows WiseTech’s other recent customs and logistics solutions acquisitions in France, Belgium, Ireland, North America, Australasia, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Taiwan, and is in line with WiseTech Global’s clearly stated strategy of accelerating long-term organic growth through targeted, valuable acquisitions across new geographies and larger, globally capable adjacencies.
