Descartes pays $12 million to acquire British digital freight platform vendor

Logistics technology provider Descartes Systems Group has acquired the digital freight platform provider Kontainers for about $12 million, saying the move will help logistics service providers to digitize their customer experiences.

Under terms of the deal, Ontario-based Descartes acquired the company for $6 million up front, with the potential of an additional $6 million due in performance-based bonuses.

U.K.-based Cracking Logistics Ltd.—which does business under the name “Kontainers”—says its platform transforms the customer experience for carriers, freight forwarders, and third-party logistics (3PL) service providers. The firm says its client-facing digital freight execution platform allows users to create branded, digital experiences for their end customers. The platform also helps 3PLs enable application programming interfaces (APIs) while preserving their investments in existing rate management and back-office systems, the company said.

When added to Descartes’ Global Logistics Network, Kontainers will be able to offer a pre-integrated solution that combines its digital freight execution with Descartes’ rate management and forwarder enterprise systems, Graham Parker, the co-founder of Kontainers, said in a release. Following the deal, Parker will take on a new title, becoming vice president of sales for Digital Freight Solutions at Descartes.

“The last few months have shown how quickly the world can change, and the shift to digitization is accelerating as a result,” Descartes EO Edward J. Ryan said in a release. “Logistics services providers operate on tight margins. Those that don’t move quickly to digitize their customer experience will be faced with higher costs to serve. Without the proper real-time connections between client-facing platforms and the quoting, rating and booking systems that this digitization brings, LSPs will struggle to efficiently meet customer demand in today’s dynamic market.”