UPS to sell logistics technology unit to equity buyer

UPS is to sell off its Baltimore-based logistics technology unit to private equity buyer Thoma Bravo, LLC.

The deal, for an undisclosed amount, is expected to close by December 31.

UPS Logistics Technology currently employs about 145 people, producing transportation routing and fleet management systems used in 200,000 vehicles and 3,300 sites worldwide.

UPS said it was selling up to focus its efforts on developing its own, in-house logistics.

Dave Barnes, UPS’s chief information officer, said: “Our decision to sell is based on UPS’s desire to focus on the development of technology directly tied to our own global package and freight networks and contract logistics services.”

UPS stressed that the sale would “in no way affect” the suite of transportation and logistics services it currently offers.

Once in new ownership, the company is to be renamed Roadnet Technologies, Inc., reflecting its original name before UPS acquired it in May 1986. Founded in 1983 as Roadnet Systems Corporation, the company offers products ranging from real-time wireless dispatch systems to GPS-based logistics planning technology.

San Francisco and Chicago-based Thoma Bravo said its acquisition would see Roadnet benefiting from the software expertise of other companies in its investment portfolio.

Len Kennedy, vice president and chief operating officer at UPS Logistics Technologies, who will become chief executive at Roadnet, said there was “unprecedented opportunity” to drive growth in the market.

He said: “There are millions of vehicles in commercial fleets where technology has yet to be applied for route management, telematics and fleet maintenance solutions.”