HighJump Software Inc. has acquired Nexternal, adding cloud-based e-commerce technology to its suite of software for managing supply chains and warehouses, HighJump said this week.
The acquisition will enable HighJump to put into effect its plan to offer an “end-to-end” technology system—from a customer-facing e-commerce front end to back-end software for managing the flow of goods from suppliers—says Bill Ashburn, chief marketing officer at HighJump. He declines to comment on the cost of the acquisition.
HighJump also provides many of its more than 14,000 clients electronic data interchange services through its TrueCommerce EDI software line that trading partners use to exchange purchase orders, invoices and other business documents electronically. With Nexternal, which initially developed its e-commerce software in 2000, HighJump can now also provide its clients the option of taking orders through a business-to-business e-commerce site. “For those customers, we can provide a second option—capturing B2B transactions via the web,” says Alex Gile, founder and president of Nexternal.
HighJump has already started integrating Nexternal with its TrueCommerce EDI software, which Ashburn expects to take 90 days. He says any small or medium-sized HighJump customer looking to sell online will likely be interested in the service. He was not able to further specify the type of customers most likely to use the Nexternal software.
HighJump doesn’t publicly state its revenue, but technology research and advisory firm Gartner Inc. reported the company’s total revenue at $160 million in 2014. Ashburn estimated that sales will grow 10% to 20% in 2015. Nexternal adds 750 new customers to HighJump’s client base, one-third of them small wineries such as Villa San-Juliette, Korbel Champagne Cellars and Miner Family Wines.
HighJump’s other clients include Sears Holdings Corp; Quality Bicycle Products, a manufacturer and distributor of bicycle parts and accessories to more than 5,000 bicycle dealers; and Etilux, a Brazil-based distributor of consumer products including tools, cosmetics and cutlery.
In July 2014, Accel-KKR, a private equity firm which had a stake in Accellos, acquired the former HighJump Software for an undisclosed sum and merged it with Accellos. The merged company took the HighJump Software name and retained the Accellos brand for its mid-market software products. Following the merger, HighJump acquired Atlas Product Ltd., a provider of supply chain management software. In 2013, HighJump also strengthened its position in Europe with the acquisition of Evenex, a Denmark-based company that provides cloud-based software for integrating EDI systems, procurement and invoicing systems and financial management software.
Now HighJump has continued to expand with its acquisition of Nexternal, which provides an e-commerce software platform designed for use by manufacturers, distributors and retailers, featuring an order management system that captures online orders via standard and mobile web browsers.
Companies also use Nexternal’s platform to manage customer orders placed through customer contact centers, to generate and manage subscription orders, and to retrieve orders from online marketplaces such as Amazon.com. The Nexternal system acts as a single hub for data on e-commerce-related pricing, promotions, order status and customer service records, Nexternal says.
No Nexternal employees were laid off during the merger, and Ashburn says the merged operation may add employees.
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