Blueprint Partners announces the sale of the majority of the capital of ez-Wheel to IDEC Corporation, a Japanese group listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange [TSE:6652] and specialist in human-machine interface solutions for industrial markets.
ez-Wheel, a French company based in Angoulême, led by its co-founders Antoine Juan and Florian Gardes, markets robotics solutions for the industrial and logistics markets. In particular, ez-Wheel recently launched the SWD (Safety Wheel Drive) range as a world first, a range composed of autonomous and safe wheels for the AGV (Automatic Guided Vehicle) and AMR (Autonomous Mobile Robot) markets, two very dynamic market segments experiencing strong growth.
ez-Wheel sells its products in various industries such as automotive, logistics or healthcare in Europe and now in Japan thanks to the distribution partnership sealed with IDEC in early 2022.
Since the launch of ez-Wheel products in Japan, IDEC has received inquiries from a wide variety of customers including major automotive manufacturers, demonstrating significant synergies with ez-Wheel's business and confirming the interest of the IDEC group in promoting industrial mobility solutions.
By welcoming ez-Wheel into the group's companies, IDEC will be able to:
1. combine ez-Wheel's products with IDEC's specialized HMI (Human Machine Interface) and safety-related equipment,
2. strengthen its software capabilities, and
3. expand sales of these advanced products globally by leveraging the group's sales network.
By joining the IDEC group, ez-Wheel benefits from IDEC's industrial skills and a solid sales network in Asia, the USA and Europe.
“Blueprint Partners has been by our side throughout the process. They were able to find with IDEC the ideal strategic partner for ez-Wheel. IDEC is a global player with a very good knowledge of our markets and a highly developed distribution network. We will thus distribute our products and continue to develop our technological roadmap in the industrial robotics markets, particularly in software. Blueprint Partners has also been key in all phases of negotiation and management of the process in order to conclude this transaction, with which we are very satisfied.”
Antoine Juan
“ez-Wheel has developed a “Killer App” with the SWD range. Its secure autonomous wheels and control software allow manufacturers, logisticians, integrators and OEMs to quickly put on the market AGVs and AMRs dedicated to their specific applications at a very competitive cost. These products, unique on the market, perfectly meet the expectations of customers all over the world; customers to whom IDEC already sells its range of HMI products. The matching is just perfect.”
Eric Plantier
