GF-X, which offers freight booking in the air cargo industry, includes an on-line cargo reservation system where air carriers and freight forwarders can complete electronic air cargo bookings, including air waybills, house waybills, status messages, and customs filings.
Descartes CEO Art Mesher, said that customers asked Descartes to expand its focus beyond standardizing and automating back-end shipment management processes to include the entire shipment management process.
Freight forwarders will now be able to manage the shipment process from the first interaction with the air carrier as part of the booking, through to the auditing of the invoice, said Robert Frei, head corporate air freight/head corporate development, Panalpina Management.
The transaction was valued at $5.4 million in cash and approximately one half million Descartes common shares that were issued to strategic airlines and freight forwards—each of which agreed to maintain their investment in Descartes for a minimum period from 11 to 18 months, and an additional $5.2 million if certain sales and performance targets are met.
