Canada-headquartered logistics software company Descartes Systems Group has acquired truck tracking and freight forecasting provider Macropoint for $107m in cash and shares.
US-based Macropoint runs a connected network of over 2m trucking assets and drivers. It connects trucks using on-board electronic devices, transport management systems, GPS-enabled smartphone applications and location-based mobile phone triangulation.
"With leading e-commerce retailers and other shippers demanding that their transportation providers provide real-time location-based information, the business-to-business market now has the same expectation of full visibility into transportation moves,” said Ken Wood, executive vice-president of product management at Descartes.
The data generated helps transport brokers, logistics service providers and shippers track the locations of trucks and deliveries and allow for better utilisation by providing more accurate predictions of freight loads.
Descartes software is used by logistics business for a wide range of tasks from routing and scheduling to executing shipments, invoicing and filing customs documents.
"We believe that the combination of Descartes' global logistics network with our cloud-based, real-time load visibility platform creates a truly differentiated offering that helps customers research, plan, execute and monitor multimodal shipments around the world,” said Bennett Adelson, CEO of Macropoint.
Macropoint is headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, and connects more than 8,000 transport providers, brokers and shippers. At the time of acquisition, it had annualised revenues of about $12.5m.
Nasdaq and Toronto Stock Exchange listed Descartes paid $87m in cash and $20m in shares to acquire Macropoint.
