Mercator acquires Catapult International

Dubai-based Mercator, majority owned by the private equity group Warburg Pincus, plans to link Catapult’s rate and quote management solutions with its own air cargo-focused technology.    The global transportation rate, quote, and contract management solutions provider Catapult International has been acquired by Dubai-based Mercator for an undisclosed sum, the companies said Wednesday.
   Mercator, a provider of solutions to the global travel, transportation, and logistics industry, is majority owned by the private equity firm Warburg Pincus, which bought the company in April 2014 when it was carved out of the parent company of Emirates Airlines.
   Mercator is primarily known for developing solutions to help airlines (not just Emirates) with everything from tracking baggage and cargo to managing customer loyalty programs.
   The move to acquire Catapult, which has a sizable roster of freight forwarder, non-vessel-operating common carrier, shipper, and carrier customers is designed to give Mercator a piece of the ocean freight business to complement its presence in the air transportation industry.
   “To build upon our already strong position in the aviation technology-enabled solutions market, Mercator has been looking for a platform that provides the right extension into the ocean and ground carrier market,” David Tibble, Mercator executive chairman, said in a statement. “Catapult is key to our strategy of optimizing critical transportation processes.”
   Catapult’s primary solutions are Catapult QMS, QMS Lite, and Spring Board, which are aimed at simplifying rate and quote management, allowing clients to determine optimal carriers for their routes and provide fast, accurate quotes.
   Tibble, who before joining Mercator was executive chairman and chief executive officer of WNS Global Services, a provider of business process management solutions, said Catapult’s data management and analytics capabilities were key to Mercator’s interest.
   The Catapult brand and management team will remain, including its CEO Matt Motsick.
   “In leveraging their significant technology and aviation experience as well as track record of developing market-leading solutions, we believe that Mercator is the right firm to unleash Catapult’s potential in the air/ocean/ground transportation management sector,” Motsick said in a statement. “We will provide broader functionality across the multi-modal logistics industry delivering deeper efficiencies for operations.”
   The deal is somewhat unusual in that the acquirer lies outside the principle set of software and services companies that have been actively acquiring transportation-related solutions providers in recent years.
   On the service side, Mercator is well-known in the aviation industry for helping companies implement software. On the software side, its solutions have centered around accounting functions on the passenger and cargo side of operations.
   Catapult competes in a growing field of companies that offer rate, quote, and contract management solutions, some of which provide BPO services to alleviate the administrative burden on forwarders and NVOs. Catapult has offices in Kansas City, San Francisco, Hong Kong, and Cebu, Philippines.