WISETECH Global has announced the acquisition of Portuguese information technology company Singeste – Sistemas De Informatica.

Australian technology company WiseTech is the developer of CargoWise, its flagship product, a logistic platform used by freight forwarders and logistics service providers, amongst others.

With this acquisition, WiseTech positions itself strategically both through furthered capabilities and geographically.

Singeste is based in Portugal, a gateway between Europe, Africa, and the Americas, with Lisbon and Porto serving as key maritime hubs.

Singeste is a developer of IT solutions in Portugal’s customs sector, and communicates directly with the country’s tax and customs authority, facilitating customs processes for freight forwarders and customs brokers.

Headquartered in Lisbon, Singeste’s own flagship product for customs facilitation is called GIDWin, and some of its international customers include forwarders and shippers such as DHL, FedEx, UPS, MSC and Expeditors.

WiseTech will look to integrate Singeste’s understanding of overseas market insights and relationships with its major customers into its CargoWise platform.

CEO of WiseTech Global, Vlad Bilanovsky said, “Singeste brings three decades of experience and technical expertise in meeting the customs needs of Portugal and the European Union that will become available as part of the CargoWise global customs solution”.

“This acquisition further confirms our relentless commitment to developing a truly global customs platform. With the addition of Portugal, our global customs system will cover more global manufactured trade flows, taking us closer to our 90% target.”

CEO of Singeste Pedro Bacelar said, “By joining WiseTech Global we not only have the opportunity to make GIDWin available to CargoWise customers doing business in Portugal, our customers will also be able to access CargoWise’s customs and compliance capabilities in other countries, simplifying customs processing for international trade”.

“We also look forward to offering other CargoWise modules to our customers over time. I’ve long had an ambition to develop customs compliance in multiple countries and am excited to work with the WiseTech team on this revolutionary global project.”

Singeste’s operations will be integrated within the WiseTech Global group, and will remain under the current leadership of Pedro Bacelar.

WiseTech says Singeste will continue to deliver its solutions directly to its customers and offer other CargoWise solutions over time.