Canada-based Descartes Systems Group, a major player in connecting logistics-focused businesses in commerce globally, has announced its acquisition of US-headquartered OCR Services (OCR), a provider of solutions and content for global trade compliance, for approximately US$90 million.
OCR specializes in offering solutions and content for export compliance and controlled commodities, aiding customers in streamlining and automating processes related to denied party screening, license procurement/management, and product classification.
“The OCR team brings a wealth of domain expertise in global trade compliance to Descartes, including experience leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) in the content management process. By adding OCR’s solutions and content to our Global Logistics Network, we see an opportunity to bring new functionality and enhanced content to our customers and partners around the world. With our combined solutions and team, we also see an opportunity to further penetrate markets in Europe and Asia,” stated Andrew Roszko, chief commercial officer at Descartes.
According to a statement, the core platform, GlobalEASE, is used by blue-chip, multinational organizations worldwide to ensure compliance with evolving regulations. Like Descartes, OCR monitors regulatory updates and enriches its trade data content libraries daily. The addition of OCR’s controlled export data is expected to enhance Descartes’ extensive global trade content library, benefiting customers and partners such as SAP and Oracle.
“We continue to invest in solutions and content to help our customers manage the complete lifecycle of shipments in what is an increasingly dynamic global regulatory environment. OCR complements our Global Trade Intelligence business, particularly our Visual Compliance and MK Data investments. We’re thrilled to welcome the OCR employees, customers and partners into the Descartes family,” commented Edward J. Ryan, Descartes’ CEO.
