Descartes Systems Group (TSX: DSG) (Nasdaq: DSGX), Waterloo, Ontario, has acquired Exentra Transport Solutions Ltd., a UK-based provider of software-as-a-service (SaaS) driver compliance solutions for the European Union. The all-cash purchase price for the acquisition was £10.7 million (US$17 million).

In the EU, every vehicle over 3.5 tons is required to have a tachograph. A tachograph is a device fitted to a vehicle that automatically records its speed and distance, together with the driver's activity. Exentra’s cloud-based compliance management platform, Smartanalysis, helps customers leverage the data from a vehicle’s tachograph to comply with EU-wise legislation governing driver compliance, such as the EU working-time directive.

“The EU driver compliance legislation has been in place longer than comparable regulations in North America. In the EU, not only is every vehicle required to have tachograph hardware, but the hardware is standardized and fitted during vehicle production,” said Steve Fisher, CEO of Exentra and director of compliance at Descartes.

Exentra brings thousands of UK routing-centric customers to Descartes’ Logistics Technology Platform, where more than 35,000 trading partners connect and collaborate to improve logistics operations. Descartes’ EU customers benefit from an enhanced routing, mobile, and telematics suite that integrates compliance and route planning applications. This integration can help customers have improved and safer delivery route plans and reduce working-time driver violations.