Fieldfisher advises Canada's Descartes Systems on Kontainers acquisition

The firm's London and Irish corporate teams assisted the Toronto- and NASDAQ-listed logistics business on its deal to buy UK-based Kontainers to further enhance Descartes' digital freight capabilities.

European law firm Fieldfisher has advised TSX- and NASDAQ-listed Descartes Systems Group, the global leader in uniting logistics-intensive businesses in commerce, on its acquisition of UK-based Cracking Logistics Limited dba “Kontainers”, a leading provider of client-facing digital freight execution platforms.

Headquartered in Gateshead with operations in the UK and Ireland, Kontainers transforms the customer experience for carriers, freight forwarders and third-party logistics service providers around the world. Kontainers’ solutions facilitate a fully digital customer experience including quoting, booking, tracking and dashboard analytics.

Led by corporate partner Jonathan Brooks, Fieldfisher's London and Dublin offices assisted Descartes with legal due diligence on the business and the negotiation of the share purchase agreements and other documentation with the sellers and Kontainers' debt providers.

The acquisition is the second deal Fieldfisher has advised Descartes on in the space of four months, having assisted the company on its acquisition of UK-based Peoplevox, a leading provider of cloud-based ecommerce warehouse management solutions (eWMS), in February this year.

Commenting on the deal, Fieldfisher corporate partner Jonathan Brooks, said:

"We are delighted to have advised Descartes on two deals, one either side of the Covid-19 lockdown, and are encouraged that ambitious companies like Descartes are continuing to make acquisitions, despite the economic uncertainty ahead of us.

"Businesses with capital and strategic visions are starting to move to future-proof themselves against the potential challenges faced by industry, and the difficulties many experienced during lockdown highlighted the importance of seamless logistics in keeping companies functioning."

Edward J. Ryan, Descartes’ CEO, added:

“The last few months have shown how quickly the world can change, and the shift to digitisation is accelerating as a result. Logistics services providers (LSPs) operate on tight margins. Those that don’t move quickly to digitise their customer experience will be faced with higher costs to serve."

Kontainers is headquartered in the UK. Descartes acquired Kontainers for a total consideration of up to US$12 million, with up-front consideration of US$6 million, plus potential performance-based consideration.

About Fieldfisher

Fieldfisher is a European law firm with market leading practices in many of the world's most dynamic sectors. We are an exciting, forward-thinking organisation with a particular focus on energy & natural resources, technology, finance & financial services, life sciences and media.

Our network has more than 1,550 people working across 25 offices providing highly commercial advice based on an in-depth understanding of our clients' needs.

We operate across our offices in Amsterdam, Barcelona, Beijing, Belfast, Birmingham, Bologna, Brussels, Dublin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Guangzhou, Hamburg, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Manchester, Milan, Munich, Paris, Rome, Shanghai, Turin, Venice and Silicon Valley.

About Descartes Systems Group

Descartes (Nasdaq:DSGX) (TSX:DSG) is the global leader in providing on-demand, software-as-a-service solutions focused on improving the productivity, performance and security of logistics-intensive businesses. Customers use its modular, software-as-a-service solutions to route, schedule, track and measure delivery resources; plan, allocate and execute shipments; rate, audit and pay transportation invoices; access global trade data; file customs and security documents for imports and exports; and complete numerous other logistics processes by participating in the world's largest, collaborative multimodal logistics community. Its headquarters are in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada and it has offices and partners around the world. Learn more at www.descartes.com.