Global trade management software developer Vastera, Inc.has completed its acquisition of Imanet, a provider of software solutions for GTM in Canada. Founded in 1989, Imanet’s GTM software solutions are currently being used by companies including Emery Worldwide, Kodak of Canada, Inc., UTi and Nippon Express. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Imanet develops software applications for the customs brokerage, international trade and supply chain logistics industries. The company is headquartered in Windsor, Ontario.
Through the acquisition, Vastera will bolster its existing North American solutions with Canada-specific functionality including support for CADEX and ACROSS (certified electronic integration to Canadian Customs), and the Customs Self Assessment (CSA) program for which Imanet is the first software provider to undergo testing with the Canadian government.
Imanet will also provide Vastera enhancements to its intelligent trade content, the country-specific rules and regulations that govern global trade. Imanet also brings Vastera global trade domain expertise specific to Canada, which Vastera will use to augment its existing managed services capabilities in that country.
“Imanet provides us with functionality critical to maximizing duty savings for our clients through NAFTA,” said Mark Ferrer, president and chief executive officer of the Dulles, Va.-based Vastera. “Combined with our existing TradeSphere solutions and our recent acquisition of Prisma in Mexico, we now have a closed loop system to deliver significant duty savings to our clients operating in North America. This acquisition is consistent with our strategy of building out a truly global platform for trade.”
Vastera initiated operations in Canada in March 2001. From its Canadian-based managed services trade hub near Toronto, Vastera runs the Canadian global trade operations for Ford Motor Company, Visteon, and other companies.
“Consistently, our clients told us they wanted a single integrated solution for global trade management across their entire worldwide operations,” said Thomas Lauriault, chief operating officer of Imanet. “We believe that by combining forces with Vastera, the world’s leading provider of solutions for global trade, we can be a part of delivering on this value proposition for our current and future customers.”