Descartes acquires ASD

Descartes Systems Group, the global leader in uniting logistics-intensive businesses in commerce, announced that it has acquired Aerospace Software Developments (“ASD”), a leading provider of customs and regulatory compliance solutions.

Based in Ireland, ASD provides customs declaration software solutions for logistics services providers (“LSPs”) and shippers, as well as RFID solutions that help the air logistics community track assets. The company’s customs filing solutions, operating under the brand Thyme-IT, help importers, exporters, and LSPs comply with Irish regulatory requirements for imports and exports in a secure and efficient manner. In addition, ASD’s RFID solutions help global airlines and ground handlers eliminate manual tasks and comply with various airline regulations more efficiently through the unique identification, tagging, and tracking of assets.

“Descartes’ Global Logistics Network (“GLN”) was built to help shippers, carriers, and LSPs connect and collaborate to manage the complete lifecycle of shipments,” said Ken Wood, EVP Product Management at Descartes. “This combination with ASD is highly complementary to our current product footprint. ASD adds deep Irish customs domain expertise and a modern multi-country customs technology platform. We also see great synergies for the airline community by combining ASD’s RFID-based solutions with Descartes’ CORE BLE real-time tracking platform.”

“As customers increasingly look to cover more business processes with one provider, we continue to add solutions to the GLN for them to do so,” Edward J. Ryan, Descartes’ CEO. “ASD shares a common vision to serve the wider global logistics community of shippers, carriers and LSPs. We’re excited to welcome the ASD employees, customers and partners into the Descartes family.”

ASD is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Descartes arranged to acquire ASD for approximately €57 million ($US 61 million), with €54 million paid at closing from cash on hand and the final arrangements for the transaction expected to occur in Descartes’ fiscal 2025 fourth quarter.