Descartes acquires BestTransport

Descartes Systems Group – a global leader in uniting logistics-intensive businesses in commerce –  announced last week that it has acquired BestTransport.com, Inc. (BestTransport), a cloud-based transportation management system (TMS) provider focused on flatbed-intensive manufacturers and distributors.

In an interview with LM, Descartes said the deal took several months to culminate. 

“We were were focused on conducting a thorough due diligence process and developing a post-acquisition integration strategy to best meet the requirements of all the stakeholders and our respective customer bases,” said a spoksesman.

BestTransport has been connecting shippers and carriers to streamline transportation processes for more than 15 years. 

According to the company, shippers leverage BestTransport’s platform to more efficiently manage numerous shipments each year across North America and Europe. 

The company offers a full TMS suite of solutions from contract rate management through to load building, shipment execution and freight payment, with extensive capabilities for flatbed transportation moves.

“Moving goods in the flatbed market requires domain expertise and special equipment, and the associated transportation management processes have some unique characteristics,” said Andrew Roszko, EVP of Global Sales at Descartes. 

“BestTransport has built a great business by creating a platform that addresses these unique characteristics with solutions available for both shippers and carriers.”

“BestTransport, like Descartes, sees the value in creating a common platform for multiple constituents to collaborate and manage the lifecycle of shipments,” said Edward J. Ryan, Descartes’ CEO. “By combining BestTransport’s platform with our Global Logistics Network, we can offer additional solutions to the community, such as Descartes MacroPoint Visibility and Capacity Matching. We welcome the BestTransport team of domain experts and community of customers to Descartes.”

BestTransport is headquartered in Columbus, OH. Descartes acquired BestTransport for $11.2 million, net of working capital, satisfied from Descartes’ existing line of credit.