Descartes adds to shipping software library with $65 million acquisition

Canadian logistics technology provider Descartes Systems Group is continuing to grow through acquisitions, announcing today it has spent $65 million to acquire a Utah firm that provides e-commerce multi-carrier parcel shipping solutions.

Ontario-based Descartes has bought Cottonwood Heights, Utah-based XPS Technologies for a price that could rise to $140 million if the smaller firm hits certain revenue targets over the next two years.

XPS sells its software to e-commerce shippers and provides a white-label shipping platform to logistics services providers. XPS says its platform helps users streamline their e-commerce supply chains and reduce transportation costs by automatically importing orders, comparing carrier rates, printing shipping labels for all major carriers, and tracking through final delivery. 

“We remain committed to serving the ecommerce market and we believe that scale matters. Combining with XPS adds e-commerce domain expertise, advanced parcel shipping technology, and a community of more than 10,000 customers,” Andrew Roszko, EVP Commercial Operations at Descartes, said in a release. “Many of today’s small and medium ecommerce retailers will be the major enterprises of tomorrow, and our integrated e-commerce shipping and fulfilment solutions are designed to help these businesses through all phases of growth.”

Descartes regularly buys a handful of logistics tech startups each year, with recent examples including the California route-planning software vendor Foxtrot Systems Inc. for $4 million in 2022 and the Florida mobile route execution solution provider GreenMile for $30 million in 2021.

Editor's note: This article was revised on June 28 to correct the potential total acquisition cost of acquiring XPS.