The Opportunity

Transporeon is a leading provider of Transportation Management Solutions. Based in Ulm, Germany, the company’s solutions power the largest global freight network of 1,300 industrial shippers, 100 large retailers and more than 145,000 carriers and logistic service providers.

The Need

Vardis had previously worked with the Company in the recruitment of its CFO, Peter Maluck. Maluck joined the Company shortly after its acquisition by Hg Capital for €800M in March of 2019. From 2019 through 2021 Transporeon grew steadily. Looking forward, the Board and CEO determined that the next stage of value creation would require that it expand beyond was was a Europe-centric customer base. Global expansion, particularly North America was a key element of the investment thesis. The demands of rapid growth also required a transition of the Company’s sales & revenue model away from direct sales to indirect channels and a marketing-driven model.

The Results

These requirements resulted in a Leadership Thesis™ which included expertise in supply chain and logistics, strong indirect channels experience, and strong international experience, particularly in North America. Working with the CEO, Vardis recruited Georgia Leybourne as CMO. She had previously led International Marketing for Manhattan Associates. Prior to Manhattan Associates Leybourne was Sales & Marketing Director for Albany Software. In addition to the obvious fit of her background, she “clicked” with the leadership team from the get go.

Leybourne joined Transporeon in early 2022. Some of the early program wins were material in helping the Company to a hugely successful sale to Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB) for €1.88B early in 2023.