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Descartes acquires Australian firm Localz

Firm acquired for $6.2 million

Descartes buys Australian IT firm (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

Canadian logistics IT firm Descartes Systems Group (TSX:DSG) said late Thursday it has acquired Localz, an Australian firm that provides a platform that engages with customers on the day they are having their goods delivered, for US$6.2 million in cash.

The Localz platform, which Descartes says offers “advanced customer engagement,” allows end customers to schedule services and deliveries through an online portal and then follow the shipment’s progress in real time with advanced notification features built in.

“By combining with Localz, we’ve expanded our capabilities so our customers can further differentiate themselves” in the competitive final-mile market, said Ken Wood, Descartes’ executive vice president of product management, in a statement.

CEO Edward Ryan said in the statement that end customers “demand visibility and choice” and that Localz has a “highly complementary” solution that dramatically improves the scheduling and day-of-service customer experience.

Mark Solomon

Formerly the Executive Editor at DC Velocity, Mark Solomon joined FreightWaves as Managing Editor of Freight Markets. Solomon began his journalistic career in 1982 at Traffic World magazine, ran his own public relations firm (Media Based Solutions) from 1994 to 2008, and has been at DC Velocity since then. Over the course of his career, Solomon has covered nearly the whole gamut of the transportation and logistics industry, including trucking, railroads, maritime, 3PLs, and regulatory issues. Solomon witnessed and narrated the rise of Amazon and XPO Logistics and the shift of the U.S. Postal Service from a mail-focused service to parcel, as well as the exponential, e-commerce-driven growth of warehouse square footage and omnichannel fulfillment.