(Yicai Global) July 1 -- Noblelift Intelligent Equipment, a listed Chinese manufacturer of warehouse vehicles and equipment, plans to invest CNY419 million (USD61 million) to absorb French software producer Savoye, which makes automation programs for distribution centers.

The Zhejiang-based firm will buy the company from an investment fund in which it owns a near 30 percent stake, the soon-to-be new owner said in a statement yesterday.

The fund purchased Savoye, which pocketed EUR1.1 million on revenue of EUR90.1 million last year, in October 2018 for an undisclosed price, after unveiling three months earlier that it valued the target at EUR32.3 million (USD36.7 million).

Savoye and its eight subsidiaries' cold chain technology, parts-to-picker sorting system and logistics management software have broad application prospects in China, particularly in e-commerce, pharmaceuticals and the fresh food sector, the statement added, saying Noblelift will take the technologies across the country and into the Asia Pacific market.

Editor: James Boynton