Kewill acquires TradePoint Systems

Kewill acquires TradePoint Systems       Kewill Systems plc, a British software company, said that it has entered into a conditional agreement to acquire the Nashua, N.H.-based trade facilitation company TradePoint Systems group for about $12 million in cash and stock.
      The initial consideration for the acquisition amounts to $11.8 million in cash and $500,000 in Kewill ordinary shares payable on completion, Kewill said. The cash part will equal the 2003 revenue of TradePoint, and is therefore subject to a potential adjustment following completion of the audit of the accounts of TradePoint for the period ended Dec. 31.
      TradePoint has provided software and electronic commerce services to international freight forwarders, customs house brokers, exporters and importers. Although the subject of the latest consolidation move in the logistics software business, TradePoint was set up in 1972, almost three decades before the advent of the e-commerce dot-coms.
      Kewill said that TradePoint has over 650 customers in the U.S. and Europe. The company also provides export documentation services in the U.K. TradePoint currently employs 83 staff in the U.S., 15 in the U.K. and 2 in The Netherlands
      Kewill said that TradePoint had reported net assets of $900,000 at the end of 2002, and made a reported profit of $1.1 million in 2002.