Fortna announces acquisition of Pierau Planung

Fortna, a leading global automation, engineering services and software company, announced that it has acquired Pierau Unternehmensberatung GmbH (“Pierau Planung”), a European-based, market leader in supply chain and logistics design, consulting, and project management. Pierau Planung’s management team will join Fortna following the transaction and continue serving its European region. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

By acquiring Pierau Planung, Fortna will further build upon its European presence and gain greater capacity across its footprint to better service its growing client base internationally. Fortna will leverage Pierau Planung’s deep industry expertise, robust client base, and outstanding team of seasoned supply chain and logistics experts to further accelerate its overall growth strategy. The combined entity will unlock exciting new opportunities for clients of both companies to enhance and innovate their distribution operations.

Based in Hamburg, Germany and founded in 1961, Pierau Planung provides industry-leading supply chain consulting services to a range of global clients as they seek transformation within their warehouse automation and optimization roadmaps. Pierau Planung provides unique solutions to a variety of end-markets, including: e-commerce, retail, food & beverage, and industrial distribution.

“We are excited to announce our new partnership with Arne, Björn, and the talented team at Pierau Planung, and look forward to adding their highly complementary services, expertise, and strong European presence to the Fortna global platform,” said Marc Austin, Managing Director, Fortna EMEA. “Pierau shares the same core values of commitment to world-class customer service, innovation excellence, and best-of-breed, supplier-agnostic solutions, making them the ideal cultural and strategic fit to join the Fortna family.”

“Over the last 60 years, Pierau Planung has played a critical role in the development of transformative automation and logistics solutions, serving as a trusted partner to many important businesses across Germany and broader Europe. We are fully confident this industry leading service will continue under Fortna’s ownership,” said Arne Pierau, Managing Director at Pierau Planung.

“We are thrilled to partner with Fortna, an established leader in the distribution and logistics market, and look forward to providing our clients with a comprehensive suite of tailored solutions, while leveraging the broader service offering, proprietary software tools, and scale of the Fortna organization,” said Björn Brunkow, Managing Director at Pierau Planung. “Most importantly, for our trusted clients, our commitment to service, our team, and our supplier-agnostic approach will remain consistent under Fortna’s ownership.”

PricewaterhouseCoopers acted as financial advisor and Kirkland & Ellis acted as legal advisor to Fortna.