Amphire Solutions said that it has agreed on a deal to acquire U.K-based barbox, a joint venture between Coors Brewers and Scottish & Newcastle.

 

barbox offers online ordering service for the licensed beer, wines and spirits trade. This latest announcement is expected to provide an additional platform to expand Amphire’s business into another large sector of the global foodservice market.

 

The Software-as-a-Service (SaaS (News - Alert)) provider of technology solutions for the foodservice and hospitality industries, Amphire Solutions helps companies manage and automate supply chain transactions and processes.

 

Mark Barnekow, president and CEO at Amphire, stated that the combination of barbox and Amphire creates a “powerful market leader” in foodservice and hospitality with tremendous growth potential in the global beer, wines and spirits sector.

 

He added: “By leveraging barbox’s innovative technology across the globe we will be able to help operators improve business profitability by managing their supply chain upstream across a broader array of products.”

 

 “Our combined solutions will provide improved visibility throughout the supply chain enabling operators to minimize costs and maximize revenue,” also said Liam Taylor, chief operating officer at Amphire.

 

barbox works in partnership with stakeholders in UK hospitality to build Internet offers that facilitate customers and suppliers transacting online. The company has nearly 15,000 registered outlets, and has transactional website for the licensed trade.

 

“We are really excited about the opportunity of working with Amphire to significantly enhance the quality of our online offering to our customers. The deal cements the company's independence within our industry, and Amphire's experience in the foodservice sector will be especially useful in expanding our offering,” said Mark Hunter, CEO at Coors Brewers.

 

He also said that barbox was a “really innovative” development when it was launched in 2000 and e-commerce is an increasingly important communication tool in the modern business world. He added: “It's the next chapter in the barbox’s success story.”

 

Last year in August, Amphire announced that it completed the transaction to acquire Makella, a European provider of SaaS solutions based in the United Kingdom. Makella was previously owned by Bidvest Foodservice Group, one of the largest distributors to the UK foodservice industry.