Descartes buys Norwegian software company KSD for $33 million in cash

Descartes Systems Group, a global logistics solutions company, said today it acquired KSD Software Norway AS, an Oslo-based company that provides electronic customs filing compliance services for the European Union (EU), in an all-cash deal valued at $33 million.

KSD, with about 1,300 mostly Scandinavian customers, will expand Waterloo, Ont.-based Descartes' presence in the region. KSD provides customs declaration, security filing, transportation management, and freight forwarding technology services. By combining KSD's EU customs solutions and Descartes' global network, the deal provides businesses with a one-stop shop of worldwide shipment management services, Descartes said in a statement announcing the transaction.

The EU customs compliance arena is comprised of multiple member states, each with different and often-byzantine regulations, languages, and systems. Shippers, carriers, and intermediaries often turn over the compliance process to logistics technology specialists like Descartes and KSD.

"EU customs compliance is complex," Svenn Widerberg, CEO of KSD, said in the statement. "Our focus is to make the process easier for customers so that they can instead focus on their core businesses."

Edward Ryan, Descartes' chief commercial officer, said the companies have about $10 million of annual recurring revenues that are core to their combined businesses. The KSD purchase "adds scale for Descartes to serve the wider logistics community," Ryan said in the statement.

KSD also has offices in Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands. It started developing logistics software programs in 1995.

The KDS deal is the third by Descartes in the past year. In November, the company acquired Exentra Transport Solutions Ltd., which produces a driver compliance solution for the EU. In June of 2012, it acquired the assets of Integrated Export Systems Ltd. and IES Asia Limited, a provider of regulatory compliance solutions.