Houlihan Lokey Advises Viastore

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that viastore Group, an internationally recognised system integrator in the field of intralogistics, has agreed to be acquired by Toyota Industries Corporation (TICO). The transaction closed on 1 July 2022.

Over the past 50 years, the viastore Group has become one of the world's leading experts in intralogistics. The company provides turnkey solutions, including automatic storage for distribution centres, warehouse management software, and material flow solutions. viastore employs a total of 600 people across multiple sites in Europe and the Americas, including Germany, the US, Spain, France, Brazil, and the Czech Republic. In 2021, it generated turnover of around €140 million.

TICO is a listed Japanese engineering company and a global leader in the field of industrial equipment. It operates in three business areas: automotive (manufacture of vehicles and components), textile machinery, and material handling (Toyota Material Handling Group (TMHG), which covers forklifts, warehouse technology, and lifting platforms; and Toyota Advanced Logistics Group (TALG), which covers automated integration logistics). TICO has set a goal of further strengthening its global competitiveness and offering its customers a comprehensive range of products and services in the field of intralogistics. In 2017, TICO acquired Vanderlande (based in The Netherlands), one of the world's leading general contractors for airports, warehouse, and parcel logistics process automation solutions, as well as Bastian Solutions (based in the US), a leading North American system integrator.

By becoming part of TALG, viastore will be in an alliance with established, strong intralogistics brands. All three brands—Bastian, Vanderlande, and viastore—are among the top 20 intralogistics brands worldwide.

Houlihan Lokey served as the exclusive financial advisor to the shareholders of viastore Group and assisted the management and founding family throughout the transaction, including due diligence process coordination and transaction negotiations.