Supply chain management technology vendor HighJump Inc. will be learning a new language following its acquisition by Körber Logistics Systems, a unit of global technology firm Körber AG.

The Minneapolis-based HighJump gives Körber a stronger presence in the U.S. as it seeks to become a global leader in supply chain management, says Körber AG board chairman Stephan Seifert. “With the acquisition of HighJump we are really putting down a marker in the sector as we are taking a leading international position in the areas of supply chain management and cloud solutions,” Seifert says.

Terms of the transaction, which was completed last week, were not disclosed.

Korber acquired HighJump from its parent company, Accellos Holdings and its primary investor, Accel-KKR, a technology investment firm. The deal does not include TrueCommerce, a provider of technology and services that manufacturers and retailers use to transact business through e-commerce and electronic data interchange, or EDI.

TrueCommerce, which HighJump acquired in 2015, also includes the Nexternal e-commerce software platform and enables its clients to manage e-commerce and EDI transactions through a single, integrated technology platform. Accellos Holdings and Accel-KKR will continue to own TrueCommerce.

Hamburg, Germany-based Körber AG reported 2016 revenue for the year ended Dec. 31 of 2.21 billion euros ($US2.66 billion), down 4.7% from 2.32 billion euros ($US2.78 billion) in 2015.

HighJump becomes part of Körber’s Logistics Systems unit, part of its international technology group based in Bad Nauheim, Germany. The business segment provides integrated applications for internal and external logistics processes, the company says. The unit provides production logistics at factories and warehouses and offers e-commerce technology along with supply chain management.

HighJump gains financial backing and expanded global reach in the deal. “Körber AG will be a tremendous long-term strategic and financial partner for HighJump,” says Chad Collins, CEO of HighJump. “We look forward to collaborating with our new colleagues from the Business Area Logistics Systems such as Inconso, Aberle Software and DMLogic and the entire Körber Group to establish a market-leading position in this ever-changing supply chain environment.”

Körber Logistics Systems’ Inconso and DMLogic provide supply chain software and services and Aberle provides systems integration services and software. Körber bought Pittsburgh-based logistics vendor DMLogic in July.

Körber gains supply chain expertise and tools from HighJump, including its cloud-based HighJump One Platform supply chain technology. HighJump also brings to the deal integrated software for warehouse management, logistics and transport management.

Earlier this year, HighJump introduced supply chain data management software

designed to compile and analyze data from internet of things sensors embedded in products and shipping containers traveling through supply chains, in addition to data on order transactions in e-commerce and EDI systems. This enables manufacturers and their trading partners to receive updates on shipment status from the time a product is ordered until final payment, HighJump says. “We see companies using this to build relationships,” says Sean Elliott, HighJump’s vice president of corporate technology.

HighJump has more than 4,000 customers the automotive, aerospace, pharmaceutical, food and beverage, retail, and consumer products industries. Its clients in the 2017 B2B E-Commerce 300 include Office Depot Inc. (No. 42) and Quality Bicycle Products (No. 135).

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