South Africa’s Imperial Logistics announced it has acquired an e-commerce solutions company Parcel Ninja for an undisclosed amount.
The JSE-listed firm said on Tuesday Parcel Ninja acquisition will provide specialised warehousing and distribution management in e-commerce, direct to consumers and to informal markets.
Parcelninja is a specialised warehousing and distribution management business that offers a full suite of warehousing and fulfilment services to South African online shops.
Started in 2013 by Justin Drennan, Ryan Drennan, and Terence Murphy, we launched our first commercial services in October 2014.
Its three founders are experienced entrepreneurs, starting WantItAll, helping grow Superbalist, which was sold to Takealot and partnering with Makro to handle a large part of their company’s e-commerce needs.
Through Parcelninja the trio shifted their focus to becoming an e-commerce enabler, making it possible for online shops to outsource most of their e-commerce needs.
The company’s services boast deep integration into existing e-commerce engines, smart product warehousing, picking and packing, Courier LiveQuote and robust real-time reporting.
Parcel Ninja, supporting digital contract logistics enhancement
The acquisition of Parcel Ninja is with effect from 1 February 2021.
“Enabled with leading software, processes and people capabilities in South Africa, Parcel Ninja provides fulfilment in both B2C and B2B channels including the informal market, supported by the management and optimisation of courier parcel deliveries,” said Imperial.
The JSE-listed logistics firm said this acquisition supports its strategic ambitions to accelerate digital capabilities and expand logistics and market access services into last-mile distribution, e-commerce fulfilment, footprint and scale in Africa while ensuring local relevance for our clients and principals.
Innovation Fund
The logistics company also announced that its Imperial Innovation Fund now has five actively managed portfolio companies:
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- Field Intelligence: a digital pharmaceutical distributor operating in Nigeria and Kenya
- Shypple: a digital freight forwarder operating between Asia and Europe
- RedBird: a provider of rapid diagnostic tests to pharmacies in Ghana
- Lori: a digital road freight exchange operating in East and West Africa that has also partnered with Imperial to launch in SADC during 2021
An investment in a cross-border digital logistics service provider serving e-commerce merchants in MENA
Data and technology
As Imperial continues on this growth journey, IT, digital and data will be positioned at the heart of the business.
“Achieving our strategic ambitions will also require us to make significant capital investments in digital and data initiatives, technology and strategic acquisitions over the next five years,” the company said.
