The Hindu Business Line : Four Soft buys DCS' logistics software unit for Rs 85 cr

FOUR Soft Ltd has signed an agreement to acquire the logistics software business of UK-based DCS Transportation for $19 million (over Rs 85 crore) in an all cash deal.

This would make Four Soft Ltd the world's largest transportation and logistics software product company, Mr Srikanth Palem, CEO and Managing Director of Four Soft Ltd, said at a news conference here on Monday.

The acquisition would be made through Four Soft BV, the company's Netherlands-based subsidiary.

Mr Palem said the acquisition is being funded through internal accruals with Four Soft contributing Rs 30 crore and rest in debt from the UK branch of ICICI.In addition to this, the company would be placing shares with private equity fund— India Growth Fund of the Kotak Mahindra group— to raise Rs 25 crore. These funds would be directed to fund more acquisitions planned by the company, said Mr Palem.

DCS Transportation and Logistics Solutions Division, has operations in the UK, the Netherlands, US, France and Germany.

The acquisition of DCS unit expands the combined customer base for DCS to 250-plus (from 150-plus), and the range of its products will cover the complete transportation and logistics domain catering to over 30,000 users spread across 75 countries, he said.

In particular, a majority of the top 20 transportation and logistics companies of the world are customers of DCS, he said. Four Soft has a strong development centre in India, and DCS has excellent domain knowledge and established customer base for existing products.

All industry indicators point to the inevitable movement towards comprehensive solutions on advanced technologies for this industry which has been recognized by DCS as well in its product road map, said Mr Stephen Yapp, CEO of DCS Transport and Logistics Solutions Ltd.

"This acquisition will aid to speed up this process with Four Soft benefiting from the large visibility and customer base that DCS enjoys in this industry today."

Ernst and Young were transaction advisers for the deal.

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