Toyota Industries Corporation to acquire viastore

The shareholders of viastore Group, a leading provider of intralogistics systems, intralogistics software and supporting services, have signed an agreement to sell all shares in the company to Toyota Industries Corporation (TICO), viastore recently announced.

Together with TICO, viastore will continue to actively pursue its growth strategy, according to viastore. The deal is expected to provide viastore with access to the customer portfolio of a leading global engineering group and long-term growth prospects for all three business areas. The parties have agreed not to disclose further details of the transaction, which is still subject to antitrust approval and is expected to close in the third quarter, viastore added.

In the future, viastore will be an independent unit under Toyota Advanced Logistics Group (TALG), with its brand, business areas, locations and management to be maintained, viastore added.

Other TALG units include Vanderlande, acquired in 2017, and Bastian Solutions, also acquired in 2017. The warehouse automation solutions and integration services offered by TALG companies have expanded Toyota’s solutions footprint in warehousing and materials handling well beyond its roots in lift trucks.

According to the Toyota Industries’ announcement of the acquisition, viastore has strengths in automation to link multiple processes such as storage and transportation with optimal materials handling equipment and software, garnering high acclaim in the market. Through collaboration with viastore, Toyota Industries aims to further expand its business by providing customers with a wide range of solutions that utilize viastore’s integration capabilities to meet logistics automation needs, primarily in the European and North American market.