Unique Logistics to Go Public and Pursue Merger and Acquisition

Unique Logistics International will become a Nasdaq-listed company and pursue merger and acquisition.

The global logistics and freight forwarding company said in a Monday (Dec. 19) press release that it has signed a definitive agreement and plan of merger with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Edify Acquisition Corp.

“Upon completion, we expect that the merger will result in growth opportunities, including improved access to capital, M&A [mergers and acquisitions] opportunities and increased liquidity,” Unique CEO Sunandan Ray said in the release.

In conjunction with entering into the merger agreement, Unique has entered into a commitment letter providing it with a senior secured financing facility of as much as $35 million, according to the press release.

The firm intends to use this to fund its previously announced pending acquisitions of eight subsidiaries and affiliates. Ray said in the release that this will position Unique to quickly complete these acquisitions in Hong Kong, China, India, Vietnam and the United Kingdom.

“We also expect the merger to provide us with additional capital to advance freight forwarding and contract logistics expansion efforts in strategic markets in the United States, helping Unique achieve our goal of rapidly capturing market share across all critical logistics hubs in the country,” Ray said in the release. “Combined with our capital efficient model, the transaction has the potential to put Unique’s operating platform on the fast track to rollout across most of those critical hubs.”

Unique provides a range of international logistics services and enables its customers to share data regarding their international vendors and purchase orders, executives the flow of goods and information, provides visibility into the flow of goods and, when necessary, updates their inventory records, according to the press release.

The firm announced in May that it has entered into a stock purchase agreement to acquire nine subsidiaries and affiliates from its former parent company, Unique Logistics Holding Limited.

All the subsidiaries and affiliates are specialist logistics companies in their country of operations, Unique said at the time.

“The acquisition of these operating companies is in line with our strategic plan to become a leading supply chain service provider,” Ray said in the May 4 announcement. “These acquisitions would serve to strengthen our control over supply chain services including capacity management and procurement.”

In related news, freight bookings and accounts payable (AP) management company Raft partnered with all-in-one logistics payment platform PayCargo to enhance the payment process for freight forwarders.

With the integration of PayCargo, Raft will expand the capabilities of its new artificial intelligence (AI) payment functionality tool, the companies said Nov. 15.

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