E2open takes over INTTRA

INTTRA was founded in 2001 by Maersk Line, MSC, CMA CGM, Hamburg Süd, HapagLloyd and UASC. In 2010, ABS Capital Partners made a US$30M investment in INTTRA.

Since then, INTTRA has gone on to build what it claims to be the “ocean shipping industry’s largest neutral network”, connecting 35,000 active shippers, 60 carriers, and 150 integrations with transport management and port system software partners.

E2open, which was itself acquired in 2015 (by Insight Venture Partners), has a broader focus on “networked supply chain solutions”, and its applications connect “more than 70,000 partner companies and 200,000 users”. E2open said that adding INTTRA “will create a unified global logistics and supply chain network”, effectively adding the ocean freight management component to a wider supply chain product.

“E2open and INTTRA have a similar consortium heritage and culture – both were born to solve similar problems for their respective ecosystems, to improve efficiencies, overcome data exchange constraints, and reduce the friction associated with doing business,” said John Fay, CEO of INTTRA. “In joining forces with E2open, a company that shares our values and understands the benefits of global business networks, we envision a single platform with accelerated innovation to connect, streamline, and operate all aspects of global manufacturing, logistics and distribution, resulting in immediate benefits for all stakeholders,” he added.

Michael Farlekas, CEO of E2open, said: “The combination provides value to all stakeholders – manufacturers, logistics service providers, freight forwarders and ocean carriers. We aim to bridge the gap between manufacturing and logistics with execution capabilities on a unified platform with real-time end-to-end visibility. Shippers will be able to better leverage ocean shipping efficiency, ocean carriers will be able to improve customer experience, and freight-forwarders will be more effective in multimodal and integrated logistics operations to help grow their respective businesses. We will continue to strive to deliver on our vision of a networked platform on which our customers can operate their end-to-end operations in real-time.”

This deal is just one of several in the supply chain management software market recently, where M&A activity is at a very high level. WiseTech Global, which owns the CargoWise platform, has been on a buying spree for some time, and recently added IFS Global Holdings of Australia, which markets the SmartFreight software for parcel and LTL shipping. The deal is WiseTech’s 22nd acquisition.

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This complete item is approximately 400 words in length, and appeared in the November 2018 issue of WorldCargo News, on page 14. To access this issue download the PDF here.