JPMorgan To Acquire Vastera

JP Morgan Chase Bank N.A. on Friday said it has agreed to acquire Vastera Inc., a trade-management software maker, in a stock deal valued at $129 million.

Under the agreement, Vastera shareholders would receive $3 for each outstanding share of common stock. The deal, which requires regulatory and shareholder approval, is expected to be completed in about 90 days. Vastera's board has approved the acquisition.

Vastera, based in Dulles, Va., would become a part of JPMorgan's logistics and trade services business. The company has 650 employees in 14 countries, and more than 400 clients, including Ford Motor Co., General Electric Co., IBM, Dell Inc. and Ingersoll-Rand Co. Ltd., New York-based JPMorgan said. Projected 2004 revenues are about $85 million.

"Through this combination, JPMorgan Chase will be the first global financial institution to offer a complete integrated cash, trade and logistics solution across the physical and financial supply chains in a way that maximizes benefits to our clients," Paul Simpson, emerging payments and global trade services business executive for the Treasury Services unit of JPMorgan, said in a statement. "Moving forward, this combination gives us scale and capabilities that are unmatched in the market place."

Vastera's software automates the required trade-management processes related to the physical movement of goods internationally. JPMorgan provides services related to financial transactions involved in the global trade process.