Descartes buys Swiss, U.K. firms for nearly $27 million cash

Descartes Systems Group, the Canadian logistics software provider, announced two all-cash acquisitions designed to strengthen its customer base in Switzerland and its customs compliance operations in the United Kingdom.

Descartes said it acquired Compudata, a Murten, Switzerland-based firm that provides business-to-business supply chain integration and e-invoicing services mostly for Swiss companies, for $17.9 million. Compudata has more than 500 customers, Descartes said in a statement.

In addition, Descartes said it acquired Impatex Freight Software Ltd., based in Cadman, U.K., for $7.9 million. Impatex provides electronic customs filing and freight forwarding solutions mostly to U.K. firms.

Both transactions are the first announced under Edward J. Ryan, Descartes' new chief executive officer. Ryan replaced CEO Arthur Mesher in late November after Mesher announced his retirement.

Compudata and Impatex add to Descartes' growing global platform of communities that collaborate on end-to-end logistics and supply chain processes. Today, Waterloo, Ont.-based Descartes has more than 171,000 participants in its cloud-based, software-as-a-service programs.

Mavi Silveira, Descartes' vice president-global marketing, said Compudata's and Impatex's services are utilized outside of Switzerland and the U.K., respectively.