Shares of WiseTech Global plunged 13% on Wednesday to A$37.68 after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) executed a search warrant at the company's offices to seize documents and electronic data as part of an investigation. The decline marked the stock's steepest one-day fall since June while the broader S&P/ASX 200 was largely unchanged.
WiseTech confirmed it would fully cooperate with the ACCC but provided no further detail about the regulator's line of inquiry. The ACCC has not revealed the subject of the warrant, leaving market participants without clarity on whether the action is connected to prior competition concerns, a fresh probe, or a wider assessment of conduct in the logistics-software market.
Regulatory backdrop and previous ACCC action
The uncertainty over the warrant is notable given a recent enforcement episode involving WiseTech and the competition regulator. In January the ACCC accepted a court-enforceable undertaking from WiseTech that required the company to divest Expedient, a logistics-software business it had acquired through its purchase of e2open. The ACCC said at the time that WiseTech had substantial market power in Australian logistics software and that the acquisition had removed an important competitor to its CargoWise platform, potentially enabling the company to raise prices or reduce service quality.
The ACCC has previously described its enforcement investigation into that transaction as resolved through the divestment undertaking, but the new search warrant renews regulatory attention on the company.
Ongoing governance and leadership scrutiny
The regulatory development lands against the backdrop of nearly two years of controversy involving WiseTech founder Richard White, which repeatedly brought governance and leadership questions to the fore. The sequence of events began in October 2024 when a civil dispute involving White and a former intimate partner became public and was followed by media reports containing allegations about his personal relationships and conduct.
White stepped down as CEO in October 2024 but remained involved with the company as a consultant before returning to the company leadership as executive chair in February 2025. An independent review later cleared him of several allegations that had been raised, while a subsequent review found that some disclosures he had made to the board about a personal relationship were inaccurate, incomplete and misleading; White accepted those findings.
Separate scrutiny has also come from regulatory and law-enforcement bodies. White was the subject of inquiries by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) over alleged trading in WiseTech shares, although no charges had been announced at the time those reviews were reported. The company's stock also experienced a sharp drop on June 22 when media reports said the AFP was investigating White over allegations that he exploited a woman's immigration status for sexual gain and provided false information on a visa application; the shares fell more than 18% that day.
White stepped down as executive chair in July and Raelene Murphy was appointed independent chair. Company statements noted that White remained involved with WiseTech after stepping down.
Market reaction and implications
The immediate market reaction was a broad selloff in WiseTech shares, reflecting investor sensitivity to renewed regulatory intervention and the prolonged governance issues tied to the founder. With the ACCC yet to clarify the scope of the search warrant, the situation leaves questions open about whether the regulator's action is related to previously addressed competition concerns, a new matter, or a more expansive probe of the company's conduct in the logistics-software sector.
WiseTech's pledge to cooperate with the ACCC addresses procedural expectations but does not resolve investor uncertainty until the regulator provides further detail. For stakeholders tracking the stock, the combination of potential regulatory follow-up and unresolved governance questions will remain a focal point.