Descartes Systems Group, Waterloo, Ontario, has acquired STEPcom, Rheinfelden, Switzerland, a leading Business-to-Business supply chain integration network.

Descartes acquired the various group of companies that collectively operate under the STEPcom name for CHF 19.3 million in cash ($US19.6 million), satisfied from Descartes’ existing acquisition line of credit.

STEPcom has connected trading partners to its B2B network for more than 15 years, helping supply chain participants connect, collaborate and seamlessly exchange electronic data. A community of more than 600 customers leverage the STEPcom suite of solutions to automate supply chain processes and streamline a wide array of complex, mission-critical documents found in typical procure-to-pay and order-to-cash processes. STEPcom also operates a GS1-certified, industry-independent data content pool where suppliers can share product master data with customers all around the world.

“The STEPcom acquisition complements our previous Compudata investment in Switzerland, helping us to better serve the market and introduce a wider set of solutions to a larger customer base,” said Edward Ryan, Descartes’ CEO. “We welcome STEPcom’s customers and its strong team of B2B supply chain domain experts to the Global Logistics Network.”