Descartes Systems Group's Acquistion of BoxTop Technologies Ltd.

On June 11th, Descartes Systems Group announced that it had acquired BoxTop Technologies Ltd., for $13 million USD, satisfied from cash on hand. Headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, Descartes offers on-demand cloud-based logistics and software-as-a-service supply chain management solutions for logistics-intensive businesses. Descartes is the global leader in uniting businesses in commerce serving over 26,000 customers worldwide and generating an estimated $424 million in annual revenue by virtue of its technological innovations, trade intelligence and extensive network reach.

BoxTop, a partner of Descartes prior to the acquisition, is a company based out of Windsor, England. Since its founding in 1995, BoxTop has provided technical freight management and supply chain software solutions for small to mid-sized logistics services providers (“LSP’s”) and international freight forwarders. BoxTop assists LSP’s with the secure and efficient movement of goods by providing a fully integrated digital platform that streamlines the various aspects of the transportation process.

As a partner of Descartes, BoxTop was able to utilize the Descartes Global Logistics Network (“GLN”) in order to provide its clients with additional visibility into shipments across various modes of transportation as well as to complete electronic customs filings. The GLN is an extensive electronic messaging system that manages the real-time flow of commercial, logistics, customs and product information by connecting carriers, shippers, governments and intermediaries.

“We’ve been working successfully with BoxTop for a number of years, and this was the next logical step in our partnership,” said Scott Sangster, General Manager Logistics Services Providers at Descartes in regards to the acquisition. “BoxTop has an excellent solution for small- to mid-sized LSPs and we see an opportunity to integrate it with more solutions on the GLN. This will help us deliver more value to BoxTop customers and expand the geographic footprint into more countries in Europe.”

The integration of BoxTop continues Descartes’ recent trend of strategic acquisitions including Dublin-based Aerospace Software Developments in April of this year, along with OCR Services Inc. this past March. The acquisitions have resulted in an expanded product portfolio and additional expertise helping drive financial performance.