SPS Commerce is to acquire Breukelen-based Tie Kinetix, which specialises in the digitisation of supply chains, for over EUR 68 million. The US company will own all the Dutch company's operations.
Tie Kinetix's shareholders have yet to approve the transaction. The Americans are paying a significant premium over last Tuesday's closing price, according to Tie. If all goes through, another it fund will disappear from the Amsterdam stock exchange.
Tie Kinetix has most of its business and operations in continental Europe (the Netherlands, Germany and France), while SPS' operations are concentrated in the Americas and Asia. Both company managements believe that the combination of the two companies will enable further development and growth of Tie's business.
Tie has invested in e-invoicing and claims to have a significant position in that market. This market is expected to grow strongly over the next two to four years with the mandatory adoption of e-invoicing in business markets in Europe. TIE's offering complements SPS's next-generation edi (electronic data interchange) solutions.
The transaction is structured as a sale and transfer by Tie Kinetix of all issued and outstanding shares in Tie Kinetix Holding B.V., the group company that directly and indirectly owns all Tie Kinetix Group subsidiaries and operations.
Salient detail: Tie Kinetix acquired the SPS Solutions branch from SPS back in 2000. That provided software for e-commerce.