A German company has made a minority investment in a Birmingham supply chain tech company.
HeidelbergCement, a German-based manufacturer of building materials and solutions, has signed an agreement to make a minority investment to acquire 45% in Command Alkon. This deal is part of HeidelbergCement's new partnership with San Francisco-based software investment firm Thoma Bravo, which acquired Command Alkon in 2020. Thoma Bravo will retain the majority ownership of Command Alkon. Exact financial figures were not disclosed.
"This partnership is a unique opportunity to accelerate digital change across the heavy building materials supply chain," said Phil Ramsey, CEO of Command Alkon. "HeidelbergCement is a leading industry player, and their investment is a validation of our strategy, solutions and the outstanding customer experience we offer. This transaction will better position Command Alkon expand our geographic footprint and execute our transition to the cloud. We look forward to continuing to benefit from our partnership with HeidelbergCement and Thoma Bravo as we continue to provide automation and business process technologies that deliver value to our customers and stakeholders across the construction industry.”
Command Alkon said Thoma Bravo has helped guide the company to expand its solutions portfolio as well as modernize and centralize its systems and organizational structure to enhance the customer experience. As a group, Thoma Bravo, HeidelbergCement and Command Alkon will continue to accelerate Command Alkon's strategy to provide cloud-based options for customers. The addition of HeidelbergCement's global reach and product adoption will further enable Command Alkon to scale its solutions and drive growth.
"As part of our strategy 'Beyond 2020,' our clear goal is to become the first industrial tech company in our sector," said Dr. Dominik von Achten, chairman of the managing board of HeidelbergCement. "We have made significant progress in our independently developed HConnect digital customer experience since its development in 2018. The investment in Command Alkon and the partnership with Thoma Bravo now allows us to monetize the hidden potential of our assets and translate it into a new growth path for HeidelbergCement. Together, we will build the digital ecosystem of the future for the heavy building materials industry."
Command Alkon has more than 2,500 customers globally. Its product portfolio includes software and technology for plant and site automation, materials ordering and scheduling, inventory and mix management, trucking logistics and fleet optimization, office and field operations, reporting and analytics. More than 1,000 companies use Command Alkon's CONNEX platform connecting all participants across the heavy building materials supply chain to allow the sharing of data and digital workflows across all parties at cloud scale.
The purchase agreement is subject to customary regulatory approvals, which are expected to be obtained by the end of this years.
