Conex continues its international development strategy with the acquisition of Lector, Denmark's leading customs software publisher

In the frame of its international expansion strategy, the French leading provider of customs and security management software backed by 21 Invest France’s Fund VI since September 2023, has completed a first acquisition with Lector, Denmark's top customs software publisher. This external growth operation allows Conex to further expand its European footprint and enhance its service offerings.

For almost 40 years, Conex has been helping companies involved in international trade, shippers and Registered Customs Representative (RCR) to optimize their customs and security management procedures through specialized software and related services.

With its long-standing expertise, comprehensive solution range, and tailored offerings, Conex dominates the French market. The group already has an international presence with subsidiaries in Belgium, the UK, in Ireland and a commercial presence in Spain. The partnership with 21 Invest aims to accelerate Conex's European growth, particularly through acquisitions, as now evidenced by the acquisition of Lector, a major player in Denmark.

Based in Copenhagen, Lector provides software solutions for Nordic and European clients. Its innovative, scalable platform simplifies customs processes, regulatory flows, and document management. Lector has a strong market position and a diverse customer base, contributing to its consistent and solid growth.

This first acquisition broadens Conex's geographical reach and product portfolio while enhancing its value proposition. The group experiences outstanding growth and reaches sales of nearly €20 million i.e. +50% compared to 21’s entry in 2023, with over 80% of revenue being recurring. The group employs 90 people across Western and Northern Europe.

Bertrand Gruson, CEO of Conex, says: "We are delighted to welcome Lector to the Conex family. Lector offers innovative and intuitive software solutions at the cutting edge of technology, giving full satisfaction to its customers, and which will benefit from the Group's R&D and be enriched by our technological input around AI and Blockchain. The Conex Group has now opened up a window on the Scandinavian countries and Northern Europe, further extending its capacity to support its customers."

Stéphane Perriquet, Managing Partner, and Hadrien Jourdan, Principal at 21 Invest France, comment: "We are very pleased with our first year collaborating with the Conex team. Alongside double-digit organic growth, the group is now poised to consolidate its leadership in Europe. The acquisition of Lector is the first step in this direction. We are also considering several other acquisitions that will complement our geographic reach and expand our offerings."

Tue Villum Sørensen, CEO of Lector adds: "We are delighted to join Conex and look forward to starting a new international chapter in Lector's history. Conex brings to Lector a wealth of resources, expertise and innovation that will enable us to improve our products and services and open up new markets. We are convinced that this support will have a positive impact on our customers.”

List of participants

21 Invest France (Stéphane Perriquet, Hadrien Jourdan, Patrick Aris), Conex (Bertrand Gruson, Alban Gruson), Lector (Tue V. Sørensen, Thomas Bargholz, Karl Haals Jensen, Jens A. Rasmussen)

Advisors to the buyers
M&A advisor: Clairfield (Bertrand Hermez, Marie Dokchine, Martin Muff, Julie Berggreen Jørgensen) - Financial due diligence: Grant Thornton (Jakob Fogt) - Strategic due diligence: Implement (Mark Stougaard) - Legal advisor: SmithKrag (Martin Ambæk Krag)

Advisors to the sellers
M&A advisor: Carlsquare (Anders Bo) - Legal advisor: Horten (Peter Helbo)

Financing
CIC Private Debt (Nicolas Offroy, Baptiste Robin)
Legal counsel: Nabarro Béraud (Magali Béraud, Yacine Arhmir)

About Conex

As a partner to key accounts and SMEs in all sectors of activity, CONEX develops and markets a range of collaborative tools for managing customs and security declarations. Its customers -importing/exporting companies, carriersand RDEs (Registered Customs Representatives) -use its solutions and services to optimise and secure the entry, processing and electronic exchange of declarations for all their international trade in goods. For almost 40 years, CONEX has been taking partin developments in international trade and the supply chain, supporting companies in their customs development and working with European and international customs administrations.
CONEX is headquartered near Lille (Orchies), with offices in Paris and three subsidiaries in Belgium, Irelandand the United Kingdom. An independent SME founded in 1985, CONEX has around sixty employees.

For more information, visit www.conex.net

Contact: Carole Mignonet, carole.mignonet@conex.net - Agence C3M: Michelle Amiard, michelle@agence-c3M.com

About 21 Invest

Founded by Alessandro Benetton, the 21 Invest group has been an active and responsible shareholder alongside management teams for 32 years and has supported over 110 companies based in France, Italy and Poland through local funds. In France, the investment strategy focuses on companies combining growth and recurrence in 4 sectors: healthcare, technology/software, education and business services. 21 Invest supports the transformation of companies by providing its expertise in structuring and accelerating growth, particularly through market consolidation.

For more information, visit www.21invest.com

Contact: Fabrice Voituron, f.voituron@21investfrance.com

About Lector

Lectors has a 25-year track-record with SW development in Denmark. Lector’s solutions focus on automation of customs processes and document/case management being one of the leading vendors in these areas with outstanding levels of customer satisfaction. Lector is active in Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Poland servicing large and medium sized business customers. From its offices in Charlottenlund (Copenhagen) Lector currently employs 30 FTE’s with a retention level way above industry standards.

For more information, visit www.lector.dk

Contact: Tue Villum Sorensen, tvs@lector.dk

TO EACH HIS ASTONISHMENTS

The recent Odasce Colloquium celebrated the association’s fiftieth anniversary.
All the ingredients were there:

The setting:
Biarritz (with a view over the raging sea)

Participants:
around 450

Topics covered:
Customs outlook for 2030

And in everyone's opinion,
it was a succes

Not to forget Denis Redon’s grand finale with his customary “surprise report” which alone constituted a highlight of the conference that all the participants would not miss for the world. For my part, through the forums and workshops, I found myself challenged by a certain number of points that I wish to submit to your wisdom.

WILL THE CUSTOMS OF THE FUTURE BE DEMATERIALISED FROM END TO END ?

First of all, the European Committee of the Wise and its inventory, followed by proposals for improvement. The idea of capturing data directly from the commercial source is not new, contrary to what has been said. This has been a constant temptation for administrations since computerisation first appeared. What is new is to affirm peremptorily that this will be the rule for tomorrow. I think there is still a long way to go before achieving this and the path there is strewn with certain legal and technological pitfalls. Would such an organisation mean that data generated by an operator on the other side of the planet would be imposed ipso facto in the country of destination of the goods, without any control on the part of the consignee? Does this mean that the administration will be able to and will assume the determination of duties and taxes, along with the amount to be collected? This is no longer an evolution, but a revolution! if only with regards to the “self-assessment” mechanism provided for in the CDU.

A EUROPEAN CUSTOMS AGENCY, WHAT BENEFITS CAN BE EXPECTED ?

provisions are applied properly throughout the European Union. A kind of “police of the police” that would sanction the defaulting Member States in order to ensure uniformity in the treatment of customs aspects across the union territory. Such a project, in addition to adding yet another level to the European rocket, only highlights the distortions in treatment associated with customs and economic competition between the Member States. The question arises of the powers that would be granted to the agency to carry our such a mission…

The aspect of digitalisation was also the subject of some astonishment because in any case, companies progress in this area with leaden feet. It is only under a certain duress that they are gradually evolving towards this way of organising their activities. Despite considerable work carried out to achieve end-to-end electronic transmission, we are still far from the mark.

And it is not without having ourselves contributed to European projects such as CORE and SELIS.

But it is clear that only administrative obligation is likely to force companies to advance in this area. An example is the future electronic invoicing requirement planned in the EU and soon to be compulsory in France. It is no longer a question of creating a PDF, but of constituting a set of data elements in an electronic message equivalent to an invoice. Will this finally trigger the long-awaited click?

ICS2, TOWARDS A NEW ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE?

It is also worth noting the new ICS2 organisational schema which aims to allow multiple stakeholders to complete the data set required prior to arrival of goods into the EU. I still can’t project myself onto the ground. The question is who has what when. All orchestrated under the responsibility of the international carrier. Seller, freight forwarder, carrier, consignee, each one has a certain number of data elements. But who will operate their transmission in the form of a message to the EU? How many complementary messages will it be necessary to link to obtain all the data required?  It’s going to be essential for this little group of supply chain players to organise itself… But I was stunned to learn that despite creating a centralised European platform, risk analysis is still handled nationally by each Member State. It really seems that the concept of the European Union is having a hard time establishing itself! There is no doubt that differences will exist and that these will eventually lead to the diversion of traffic to less demanding states. The expression of “states within the state” takes on its full dimension.

But the next conferences organised between now and 2030 will perhaps bring some clarifications on these points.

Alban GRUSON
Président Directeur Général