Zebra Technologies to Acquire AI Software Firm Antuit

In a move it said would enhance the demand forecasting and pricing capabilities of its store execution solutions, Zebra Technologies intends to acquire antuit.ai, a provider of AI-powered merchandising software for the retail and CPG industries.

“The planned acquisition of antuit.ai is an important extension of Zebra’s retail store execution solutions and will enable Zebra to further differentiate its growing retail software and solutions offering,” Suresh Menon, SVP and GM of software solutions for Lincolnshire, Ill.-based Zebra Technologies, said. “With the addition of antuit.ai, Zebra’s expanded retail software portfolio will offer even more value for customers looking for a full solution that includes planning, execution and optimization of both store labor and inventory across the supply chain.:

Antuit.ai will be the third SaaS company acquired by Zebra that has been recognized as a top solution provider in the RIS Software Leaderboard over the last two years, alongside Profitect (now known as Zebtrra Presciptive Analytics) and the workforce management solution, Reflexis.

The deal comes amid a flurry of acquisitions in the retail technology space. Zebra last month said it was buying Fetch Robotics, a provider of warehouse fulfillment technology.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Zebra said Antuit enables retailers to deliver on omnichannel strategy by increasing margins with effective prices and promotions, as well as optimizing inventory allocations and order fulfillment. Its CPG clients can maximize forecast accuracy; anticipate consumer demand; optimize pricing and trade promotions; and unify sales, trade and demand planning.

“Through its synergies with our retail store execution portfolio, the acquisition of antuit.ai will further drive our ability to bring the power of AI to our customers, and meet the demands of today’s consumer,” Anders Gustafsson, CEO of Zebra Technologies, said. “It will also enable us to offer our customers in the CPG industry an analytics, AI and automation solution that supports more efficient planning and operations with greater visibility across the supply chain. We are excited to welcome the antuit.ai team to the Zebra family.”

 Antuit is owned by a consortium led by Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

“The antuit.ai team is excited to join Zebra and will add immediate value by bringing innovation, AI talent and industry experts to help our combined customers optimize inventory, maximize fill rates and increase efficiencies,” Antuit’s co-CEO Siva Lakshmanan said.

Jenner & Block LLP is serving as legal counsel to Zebra. Goodwin Procter LLP is acting as legal counsel and Mizuho Securities USA LLC is acting as financial advisor to antuit.ai.