TrueCommerce expands connectivity network in acquisition of EDI and API provider

Logistics connectivity provider TrueCommerce is continuing its strategy of expanding market share through acquisitions, announcing today it has bought DiCentral, a provider of application programming interface (API) connections between trading partners.

According to Pittsburgh-based TrueCommerce, the move will fuel the growth of its global network, deepen its solutions portfolio, and expand its global geographic footprint.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but TrueCommerce said the acquisition will double the size of its employee count to about 1,300 people.

TrueCommerce says its technology supports digital supply chain collaboration and connectivity through both electronic data interface (EDI) and API links that allow users to manage the increasing complexity of supply chain and e-commerce, streamline operations, and increase profitability. 

The company has been growing quickly since it was acquired in 2020 by the private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (WCAS) from fellow investor Accel-KKR, which remains a minority shareholder. Following that event, TrueCommerce soon acquired B2BGateway, a Rhode Island provider of managed cloud service solutions for EDI and API connections among suppliers, manufacturers, and retailers.

Bringing on Texas-based DiCentral will now add 30,000 connections to TrueCommerce’s Global Commerce Network, bringing it to 160,000 total connections, and it will add nearly 5,000 customers, boosting the TrueCommerce total to nearly 18,000 customers.

The broader network will also support organic growth on TrueCommerce’ system, which saw the volume of messages on its platform rise 41% in 2020 over 2019. According to TrueCommerce CEO John Fay, that expansion was driven by geometric increases in supply chain complexity over the same period, as retailers now use many more suppliers and sell those goods through more outlets, such as Magento, Shopify, and TrueCommerce’ own e-commerce storefront products Nexternal.

At the same time, a growing number of suppliers have become direct sellers themselves, acting as “inventory depots” for overwhelmed retailers, as shown by 96% growth in 2020 over 2019 in the amount of drop-ship activity on the TrueCommerce platform. Those trends affect the entire enterprise, as TrueCommerce says its business base includes users drawn in three equal parts from retail and consumer packaged goods (CPG), industrial manufacturing, and other sectors, Fay said.

As it continues to ride those market waves, TrueCommerce sees plans for additional expansion in its future. “We have a new investor, and we will continue to be acquisitive in a significant way going forward,” Fay said.

TrueCommerce Acquires DiCentral - Acquisition creates the most feature-rich, global, cloud-based, multienterprise supply chain network https://t.co/2ULOvZehXA pic.twitter.com/G9bItD53Pc

— TrueCommerce (@TrueCommerce) September 13, 2021