VASTERA ACQUIRES SPEEDCHAIN IN U.K.

VASTERA ACQUIRES SPEEDCHAIN IN U.K.    Vastera, based in Dulles, Va., a provider of electronic commerce management solutions, said Friday it will buy Speed Chain Network Inc. (Speedchain), a London-based provider of online logistics solutions.
   Vastera will acquire Speedchain for about 1 million shares of its common stock, subject to the approval of Speedchain’s shareholders.
   Speedchain will give Vastera “the collaborative framework critical for cross-enterprise collaboration and event management,” said Arjun Rishi, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Vastera.
   Speedchain and Vastera became partners last fall, and have since begun to integrate their respective solutions. Vastera’s clients include Ford, Dell, Microsoft, Lucent Technologies and Nortel Networks.