GEODIS announces acquisition of Need It Now Delivers is a done deal

Following its August announcement in which it said it is acquiring Keasbey, N.J.-based express delivery and logistics services provider Need It Now Delivers, Levallois-Perret, France-based global third-party logistics (3PL) and freight transportation services provider GEODIS recently announced that the deal has been made official.

A purchase price was not disclosed.

GEODIS officials said that Need It Now Delivers operates as an expansive domestic road freight network with over 65 company locations and 300 distribution points, providing strong national coverage, particularly in the eastern U.S. The acquisition significantly expands GEODIS’s U.S. presence in the areas of contract logistics and final mile delivery and strengthens its end-to-end freight network domestically and internationally.

And they added that with the transaction complete, GEODIS now employs approximately 15,000 teammates in the U.S. (with more than 17,000 employees in the Americas region) and operates more than 200 locations totaling 52.9 million square feet of warehousing space domestically. The combined organizations would have generated $3.7 billion for full year 2021 in the U.S, according to GEODIS.

“The completion of the Need It Now Delivers acquisition will accelerate our continued growth in the U.S., which has become an essential market for GEODIS, as we remain committed to building a fully integrated network of transport and logistics hubs globally,” said Marie-Christine Lombard, CEO of GEODIS. “This acquisition allows GEODIS to expand our offerings in a consolidating market and solidify our position as one of the world’s top 10 leading logistics providers.”

Mike Honious, President & CEO of GEODIS in the Americas, told LM that as part of the company’s growth strategy and Ambition 2023 plan, GEODIS see acquisitions such as this one as an important way to continue expanding its offerings in a consolidating market.

“The United States is one of the targeted priorities for external growth in our Ambition 2023 plan, which was established in 2018, because North America offers many opportunities to enhance service for GEODIS’s international customers and support their continued success,” said Honious. “Now more than ever, customers are looking for more expansive networks of flexible, efficient and reliable services to navigate projected industry dynamics such as continued e-commerce growth and increasingly complex supply chains that require the need for omnichannel capabilities. GEODIS currently has a strong presence in the United States, with the Americas region accounting for 28% of the Group’s revenues in 2021. This acquisition offers an opportunity to further strengthen our distribution capacity as we continue to expand our services to best support our customers.

As for the main benefits of this deal for GEODIS’ shipper customers, Honious explained that the acquisition will strengthen its national freight distribution network and final mile delivery capabilities in the United States, alongside its existing contract logistics and freight forwarding lines of business in the country.

“We see a huge advantage in combining our organizations as GEODIS and Need It Now Delivers customers will have full access to an end-to-end logistics offer, both domestically in the United States and internationally,” he said. “GEODIS customers will have access to strengthened U.S. distribution services while Need It Now Delivers customers will have access to GEODIS’s international freight forwarding network and contract logistics offerings. The acquisition of Need It Now Delivers provides us with an opportunity to continue building a global, multi-modal and integrated freight network to offer our customers with leading end-to-end transport and distribution services.”

GEODIS currently has a strong presence in the United States, particularly through its contract logistics and freight forwarding lines of business, noted Honious.

“In the United States alone, we have more than 15,000 employees, 157 warehouses, over 48 million square feet of warehousing space, and transport 46 million tons of freight by air and 151 million tons by sea,” he said. “Need It Now Delivers is a complementary business to ours, and its domestic freight network in the United States will augment GEODIS’s global freight transport network.  Ultimately, Need It Now Delivers complements our existing capabilities as we continue to expand our offerings to best support the growth strategies of our customers.”

What’s more, he said that Need It Now Delivers’ network of more than 65 company locations and 300 distribution points in the United States, particularly in the Eastern region, will form a significant competitive advantage for delivering throughout America on behalf of GEODIS’s customers and Need It Now Delivers has also developed business in multi-channel contract logistics (primarily in B2C: mass retail, e-commerce) to provide its customers with a comprehensive solution, which has great synergies with GEODIS’s existing business.

“Consumer trends have changed the game for businesses needing last-mile delivery services,” he said. “As the industry need for last-mile delivery continues to grow, we can combine our current capabilities with Need It Now Delivers’ expertise in this area. Need It Now Delivers operates a final mile complete solution for both heavy/bulky delivery from customers’ warehouses/locations (including white glove delivery) as well as metro market parcel solutions with next-day delivery coverage. It also specializes in verticals that are complementary to GEODIS’s business (retail, automotive, pharma, etc.) and has enlarged domestic coverage with markets targeting the top 50% of the U.S. population.”