Mercator, a global provider of solutions to the travel, transportation, and logistics (TTL) industry, has acquired Catapult International, a technology-enabled solutions provider for freight forwarders, shippers, and carriers worldwide.

Catapult will retain its management and brand under its new name: Catapult, a Mercator company.

Headquartered in Kansas City, Catapult is one of the fastest growing technology companies in the transportation management sector. The company's key solutions include Catapult QMS, QMS Lite, and Spring Board, which simplify rate and quote management, allowing clients to quickly determine optimal carriers for their routes and provide fast, accurate quotes.

Catapult's solutions are used by more than 25,000 users at freight forwarders, non-vessel operating common carriers (NVOCC), carriers, and shippers around the globe, which represent the largest share of NVOCC ocean contracts worldwide.

The acquisition is the first step in achieving Mercator's vision to leverage its aviation heritage across the TTL lifecycle, keeping people and cargo on the move, safely, on-time and cost-effectively.

David Tibble, Mercator's executive chairman said: "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. Catapult is key to our strategy of optimising critical transportation processes through an unparalleled combination of technology, business process outsourcing, analytics, and data management. With the Catapult solution set, we will enable enterprises to make smarter, real-time decisions at that point in the transportation lifecycle where accurate and fast quotation can make the difference between profit and loss on a shipment."

Matt Motsick, Catapult's chief executive officer, said: "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. We will provide broader functionality across the multi-modal logistics industry delivering deeper efficiencies for operations." – TradeArabia News Service