Four Soft buys FWL unit for Rs 12 crore

Four Soft Ltd, a global leader in software solutions for transportation and logistics vertical, has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of the freight and shipping software business of FWL Technologies, UK, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Four Soft UK in an all-cash transaction estimated to be around Rs 10-12 crore.

The acquisition of the business includes IP, staff, customer contracts and business assets. With this acquisition, the company expands into the shipping liner software business, while further consolidating its coverage in the transportation and logistics vertical. Revenues from the acquisition are expected to be in the range of $6.5 million a year (around Rs 28 crore).

The buyout adds domain and technology teams based out of the UK, India, Singapore and USA to Four Soft's current operations. The customer base is expected to expand to add shipping liner customers and take the employee strength to over 900. Paul Griffin, the outgoing-CEO of FWL Technologies, said,

"The FWL clients get benefited and new-generation technologies of Four Soft." Speaking on the acquisition, Dave Pickburn, vice-president, UK and Scandinavia, said, "4S has been the pioneer in bringing next-generation technologies and products to the global logistics markets over the last few years."

FWL's established shipping liner and freight forwarding clients can now have access to Four Soft's proven global delivery capability and a wide range of offerings."

Kal Gangavarapu, COO at Four Soft, said, "In line with our domain-centric strategy, this acquisition helps us further consolidate our leadership position in the transportation and logistics domain. This expansion enables us to offer a greater depth of domain and technology experience, which can only be good news for our clients."