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

Conex signs a partnership agreement with E&P International Inc., China (Shanghai) International Trade Single Window, in the framework of security declarations.

Officialised on the occasion of the PAA (Pan Asian E-commerce Alliance) conference in Paris, this partnership agreement with E&P' makes the Conex pre-customs clearance formality platform the trusted solution for E&P's international carrier and forwarding customers in the context of ICS2.

ICS2, a pre-customs clearance declaration formality, will, by 2025, be extended to include all modes of transport for all goods arriving on European Union soil. It must be made in electronic form, before the departure of the goods and concerns all economic operators who trade with the EU.

The SAFE via conex™ electronic transmission platform meets this security formality and communicates in full regulatory and technological compliance with the central European ICS2 system.

With Conex solutions and EDI exchanges between the two partners, economic operators connected to the E&P’ platform benefit from reliability, security and compliance for the exchange of their messages with the European ICS2 system.

“This partnership, the result of cooperation and collaboration with international players, allows the facilitation of data exchanges with China for all goods destined for the European Union. Sharing our common expertise in terms of customs regulations and technological innovation offers operators facilitating tools,” explains Bertrand Gruson, CEO of CONEX.

“This strategic partnership, leveraging the ICS2 system to align with the new EU safety and security regulations for our clients in China, opens up new possibilities for cross-border data flows and significantly enhances trade facilitation between the EU and China” says Lyu Feng, CEO of E&P.

About E&P

E&P International Inc., established in 2001 by the Shanghai municipal government, is a mixed-capital government enterprise specialising in the construction and operation of Shanghai E-port, promoting digital transformation in the field of international shipping and trade. Since its establishment, the company has devoted itself to the integration of information resources and innovation for Shanghai e-port, while striving to construct the “Shanghai International Shipping Center” and “Shanghai International Trade Center”.

About ICS2

The European Union makes the security of its citizens and the single market a top priority. Every year, trillions of euros worth of goods are imported into the EU. Today the 27 members of the EU represent around 15% of global trade in goods. This new system for the declaration of advance information on goods entering the EU supports the implementation of the European Union Customs Code and the customs risk management program aimed at better protecting the single market and citizens of the EU.

About CONEX

Partner of economic operators in all sectors of activity, CONEX develops and markets a range of collaborative tools for the management of customs and security declarations. Its clients, importing/exporting companies, transporters, 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 exchanges of goods. CONEX has been participating in developments in international trade and the supply chain for nearly 40 years, supporting companies in their customs development, and collaborating with European and international customs administrations. CONEX, whose historic headquarters is located near Lille (Orchies), has offices in Paris, and subsidiaries in Belgium, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Created in 1985, CONEX has around sixty employees.

Agence C3M
Michelle Amiard, michelle@agence-c3M.com

Conex welcomes the Pan Asian E-Commerce
Alliance (PAA) delegation to Paris

Conex, an official member of the Pan Asian E-Commerce Alliance (PAA), is hosting the delegation for its 69^th conference in Paris from May 13^th to 15^th, 2024.

The PAA conference enables reflection and collaboration between these key players in trade between the EU and Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Oceania.

On the agenda: the integration of the Import Control System 2 (ICS2) declaration into export formalities to the EU and other collaborative data exchange projects.

A summit meeting on the digitalisation of customs and security formalities

PAA is a pioneering group in Asia, dedicated to facilitating international trade. Its ambition is to expand its network to other regions of the world. A recognised player in the dematerialisation of customs declarations in France and Europe, CONEX sought to join the group to perfect its recognition in Asia, share its experience, benefit from that of the countries represented, accelerate the interconnections between its own tools and the platforms of international data exchange. CONEX was welcomed to the discussion table in 2021 an associate member of the PAA before becoming a full member last year.

CONEX's membership to the PAA allows it to maintain ongoing relationships with stakeholders who are centre stage of international trade: single windows, technical and regulatory partners, for all players in the supply chain (shippers, multimodal carriers and RDE -Registered Customs Representatives-) from the moment the goods leave for the EU.

“Through this think tank, CONEX is involved in all projects related to the facilitation of international data exchanges. At the heart of analyses, new technologies such as blockchain and AI, hold a prominent place to which CONEX brings its know-how. The realisation of these joint projects and the resulting solutions serve economic players engaged in global trade” explains Bertrand Gruson CEO of Conex.

ICS2, one of the key topics of the 2024 edition of the PAA conference

ICS2 is a European IT system created to collect data on all goods entering the EU prior to their arrival. Economic operators (EO) must declare data relating to safety and security to the ICS2 system, by way of the entry summary declaration (ENS).

In 2024, ICS2 extends its scope to maritime transport and from 2025 its coverage will be total with the inclusion of road and rail transport. All modes of transport entering the EU will thus be concerned by ICS2.

Invited as keynote speakers on the subject, FIATA (International Federation of Freight Forwarder Associations), GSF (Global Shippers Forum) and TLF (Union of French Transport and Logistics Companies speaking on behalf of CLECAT, European Association for Forwarding, Transport, Logistics and Customs Services) were able to share their thoughts and valuable analysis, particularly in terms of the recent joint FIATA-GSF publication of the ICS2 Guidance Note for freight forwarders and shippers.

“Organising the delegation’s conference in Paris in 2024, in this Olympic year, is a wonderful opportunity. It is a great honour for CONEX, 3 years after our membership began, to be the reference host on European soil for all our Alliance partners,” explains Bertrand Gruson.

About PAA

The PAA - Pan Asian E-commerce Alliance - consists of twenty members representing international trade platforms involved in import/export formalities and their digitalisation, in China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Indonesia, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Senegal, the Middle East and Europe. Created in 2000, the alliance continues to expand.
It brings together the key players in international trade from each country; in Asia, they serve 350,000 organisations, almost all of the commercial companies active in the area. Together, they process several hundred million customs declarations annually. Their discussions and work aim to promote and provide secure, reliable and value-added IT infrastructure and equipment for efficient global trade and logistics.

For more information: https://paa.net/

About ICS2

The European Union makes the security of its citizens and the single market a top priority. Every year, trillions of euros worth of goods are imported into the EU. Today the 27 members of the EU represent around 15% of global trade in goods. This new system for the declaration of advance information on goods entering the EU supports the implementation of the European Union Customs Code and the customs risk management program aimed at better protecting the single market and citizens of the EU.

About CONEX

Partner of economic operators in all sectors of activity, CONEX develops and markets a range of collaborative tools for the management of customs and security declarations. Its clients, importing/exporting companies, transporters, 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 exchanges of goods. CONEX has been participating in developments in international trade and the supply chain for nearly 40 years, supporting companies in their customs development, and collaborating with European and international customs administrations.
CONEX, whose historic headquarters is located near Lille (Orchies), has offices in Paris, and subsidiaries in Belgium, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Created in 1985, CONEX has around sixty employees.

To learn more : www.conex.net

Agence C3M : Michelle Amiard, michelle@agence-c3M.com

Bolloré Transport & Logistics adopts Conex’s ZEN solution and transforms its working relationship with its customers

At Bolloré Transport & Logistics, 275 metropolitan declarants are employed to process customs and security declarations. Little by little, the increase in administrative processing brought about by Brexit has prompted customer collaboration work to be further digitalised: the exchange of information is now organised around a documentary platform which receives and stores all the information exchanged, makes it possible to visualise processing progress, gives alerts in the event of hot spots, and produces periodic reports.

Towards a complete digitalisation of shared work

On post-Brexit 1^st January 2021, the Bolloré Logistics Customs department suggested that its customer NESTLE work on the Conex ZEN platform. This secure digital workspace receives, centralises and archives documents and correspondence between the registered customs representative-freight forwarder and its customers, making it possible to optimise the completion of customs formalities for import / export operations. ZEN via conex™, which organises exchanges in a methodical way, quickly proved its worth and other Bolloré customers followed suit and joined forces with the collaboration tool…

“The Nestlé Group was the first customer to switch to this new work organisation, first, 10 declarants used it for the exchanges with their correspondents in 7 or 8 factories. Today, 30 declarants are connected to the tool for 6 customers and the movement is speeding up, with 100 declarants and about 15 customers planned to make the move in the short term. In the deployment stage, 2 hours are enough to train new users,” explains Jean-François Ledun, Customs Director at Bolloré Logistics.

Greater processing visibility and speed

ZEN via conex™ offers users a timesaving, collaborative workspace. Through an IT link, ZEN automatically assigns data to the corresponding declaration fields in CUSTOMS via conex™, the customs declaration software. The mandatory documents are thus progressively pre-filled, the only human intervention being for the purposes of verification.

ZEN provides traceability of exchanges between Bolloré and its customers at this pre-declaration stage. The customer gradually uploads the necessary documents to the declarants, ZEN intelligently organises all the data flows while the customer can follow closely throughout the life of the declarative file. An alert notifies the declarant concerned of any action on the platform, and he/she can then access the transmitted documents. The exchanges in the pre-declaration phase are tracked and the platform centralises documents and information which in the past arrived via a variety of methods such as email, telephone, drive etc, depending on each person’s habits.

Jean-François Ledun explains: “We know, file by file, where we are at any given moment, thanks to a condensed overview; if data is missing to clear an entry, we see it immediately and can take care of it as a priority.”

When the declarant sends the declaration to the customs administration, the processing workflow is tracked, and the customer and the declarant are kept informed of progress in real time.

Report templates are customisable according to customer criteria, so no more wasted time searching for data to compile reports. Performance indicators, such as the average processing time per declaration, are calculated automatically, and financial management data are summarised (amounts of customs duties, VAT, etc.).

“As a registered customs representative, and therefore a service provider, we must periodically provide reports to our customers. In some cases, it could take man-days to compile the information and present the renderings to the customer; with ZEN, creating reports is made easy, with preformatted templates,” emphasises Jean-François Ledun.

Finally, document and declaration archiving in ZEN via conex™ is another advantage: it is operated at the request of a customer for up to 10 years for all declarations and documents. The opposability of the archiving is reinforced by the use of Blockchain technology which will certify and timestamp each document and action making up the file.

About ZEN via conex™: ZEN via conex™ is a collaborative platform for exchanging, centralising, tracking and archiving data, documents and electronic messages. The customer can thus log all the movement of entries throughout the import/export process, from the pre-declarative phase right through to filing. Multiple actors – customers, partners, collaborators, importers, exporters, carriers … -, intervene in turn to enrich the declaration, in a collaborative workflow.

About Bolloré Transport & Logistics

Bolloré Transport & Logistics is a major international transport and logistics operator with 35,000 employees in 109 countries on five continents. A specialist in multimodal transport, the group operates through four businesses: Bolloré Ports, Bolloré Logistics, Bolloré Energy and Bolloré Railways.

For more information: https://www.bollore-transport-logistics.com

About Conex

Partner to large corporations and SMEs in all sectors of activity, CONEX develops and markets a range of collaborative tools for the management of customs and security declarations. Its customers, importing/exporting companies, carriers, RDE (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.

CONEX has been involved for nearly 40 years in developments in international trade and the supply chain, supporting economic operators in their customs operations, and collaborating with European and international customs administrations.

CONEX, whose historic headquarters are located near Lille (Orchies), has offices in Paris, and two subsidiaries in Belgium and the United Kingdom. An independent SME, created in 1985, CONEX has around sixty employees.

CONTACT PRESS
AGENCE C3M - Michelle Amiard - michelle@agence-c3m.com

Transports Mesguen chose Conex solutions to create a post-Brexit Customs activity

Since Brexit became a reality, Transports Mesguen, an SME located at the northern tip of Finistère, has been using Conex solutions for clearing goods en route or arriving from the United Kingdom. A highly strategic step in the Supply Chain, especially for food, live and ultra-fresh products.

A strategic challenge

To adapt to Brexit, the SME of 50 million euros at the head of a national fleet of 150 lorries created a whole new 6-declarant-strong department from scratch at the company headquarters in Saint-Pol-de-Léon. This new Customs department has been equipped and trained in the new regulatory obligations related to transporting goods to and from Great Britain, and in Conex's specialised software: the France and United Kingdom Customs solution, - Management of customs procedures on both sides of the Channel - and the EU ICS and S&S GB modules for processing security declarations.

This new declaration activity has become a profit justifyand a competitive asset for Transports Mesguen. But in reality, the project to internalize customs and security declarations was also strategic for the company: the United Kingdom's share of turnover is 25% of the 50-million-euro total. However, a significant part of the movements concern ultra-fresh food products, vegetables, poultry and seafood products. In this Supply Chain which delivers products on D+1 most of the time, outsourcing declarations to a third party could have penalised its reactivity.

Philip Gac, general manager in charge of financial and HR for the company, initiator of the project, explains:

“Entrusting customs declarations to a third party is possible on paper, but in practice, it multiplies the number intermediaries, communication difficulties, and the risk of delays…. In the world of ultra-fresh transport, when the goods must be delivered on D+1 (we are talking about live crustaceans, in particular), the Supply Chain cannot suffer the slightest delay, otherwise the goods may be lost! Above all, we did not want our lorries to be blocked at the borders upon arrival in England or France!”

It’s ancient history

Transports Mesguen has been developing transport services between the continent and the United Kingdom since the 1960s. But over the past thirty years, since 1993 with the United Kingdom’s entry into the European Union, import/export formalities had disappeared.

Until we heard talk of Brexit. As a result, on January 1^st, 2021, a department resurrected the service on brand new foundations: new regulations, new process, new team, new software... The context of political indecision and regulatory uncertainties surrounding the implementation of Brexit forced the SME to adapt, a push on the brakes then rapid acceleration, both in building up skills for its staff and for the implementation of software.

Conex has supported this Brexit project since the start, two years ago, and it is with the same determinat

Collaboration with Conex

March 2019, the decision to commit to the organisation of an internal customs clearance service for movements to and from the United Kingdom is taken. They will need teams and software and Philip Gac, who has taken the initiative to run the project, approaches Conex: “Conex is the market leader, its reliability has been confirmed to me by several freight forwarders that I know. The overall project already included enough uncertainties, I wanted security with regard to the IT solution to be chosen. And the first contacts with the teams went well from the start. In addition, Conex had the clear advantage of offering the CUSTOMS via conex™ software which is connected to UK Customs (CHIEF, CDS). Thus, the information about the goods that we transport for our customers is entered and/or interfaced only once, either on the French side or on the UK side to be sent to customs on both sides of the Channel; they appear mirrored in the Conex solution on either side of the border without additional work.”

Philip Gac estimates the need for 6 or 7 people for his customs team; but hiring, while Brexit is not yet a certainty, is a challenge. He then offered all the administrative staff the possibility of joining the future Customs department, which clearly meant training his staff in the new profession of customs declarant and, therefore, in the Conex tools. 8 people are on the starting blocks, this is enough to cover the needs of a service open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. 7 days a week. 3 people, including himself, start training in the spring of 2019, and will in turn train their future colleagues in the new department.

In parallel with the training, IT work is carried out to integrate the Conex tools into Mesguen's information system: this involves limiting manual entries by directly injecting the data already present in Mesguen's accounting and transactional tools into the heart of Conex interfaces. Philip Gac added: “This integration of Conex into our IT system went very well, and for our team it was really a condition for managing large volumes quickly and without the risk of error!

Customs and security formalities

New implementation dates

CONEX has the software solution
to meet all these formalities.

In partnership with EUROTUNNEL, CONEX, a major player in customs dematerialisation, offers carriers all the software solutions they need for their post-Brexit customs formality management. A range of specialised customs software connected to customs systems on both sides of the Channel.

ICS/ENS Import Control System The European Union advance security declaration - Imports into EU from the United Kingdom (since January 2021)

GB S&S/ENS Safety & Security The British advance security declaration – Imports into GB from the EU (from 1st July 2022)

EXS Exit Summary Declaration  The GB Export declaration for goods heading to the EU and that are not covered by a full customs exportation declaration.

GMR – GVMS via conex™, GOODS MOVEMENT RECORD
Dematerialised folder grouping together the reference numbers of previously registered declarations meeting the customs formalities required according to the goods carried on board a means of transport crossing the United Kingdom border. (from 1^st January 2022)

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One of the largest freight forwarders in the world has opted for the Conex solution to ensure its customs clearance in France of nearly 70,000 declarations per year. An expert tool and a strong partnership that now allow Panalpina France to optimise customs clearance and to plan for the development of new services.
Secure customs declaration input
Panalpina has 9 profit centres in France employing 373 staff, for a 2017 turnover of more than 232 million euros. It has transport and logistics operations in every continent. To perform these, in France the company employs 23 declarants spread over 5 sites: Le Havre and Roissy mainly, but also in Nantes, Lyon and Strasbourg.
At the end of 2017, the team of declarants were provided with the flagship Conex tool, the DELTApass software suite for electronic customs clearance and the “Encyclopédie Douanière” (Customs Encyclopedia), a collection of databases for its declarants’ daily regulatory monitoring.
The implementation took place without difficulty, accompanied by training on the tool, and new work habits were adopted to secure customs declaration transmission while maintaining a necessary level of productivity to absorb the treatment of some 70,000 declarations per year.
With the arrival of a new director in France who pressed for the choice of Conex, the Customs service is taking a fresh look at the future: “We are going to be able to develop more far-reaching and in-depth customs consulting services for our clients, thanks to help of Conex, a software editor who is always very reactive and whose support is constantly at our side if we need it”, explains Doriane GUERY, Panalpina Country Head of Customs, France. “Our declarants are now able to not only improve their productivity but also enhance the quality of their service by using this expert tool”.
A SaaS mode solution
The Panalpina declarations are input on DELTApass via conex, software for the treatment of DELTA G (C/D), X and T customs procedures and are transmitted in SaaS mode to the ultra-secure CONEX servers.
The SaaS mode makes it possible to obtain an overall view of the activity, even though the data input was performed in different geographical sites. Doriane GUERY from Panalpina commends herself on having a solution with “truly adapted ergonomics, functionalities enabling automation, numerous settings which allow us to save time and guarantee quality.”
The skills and reactivity of an expert IT service provider
At a time when customs regulations are becoming increasingly complex and demand constant knowledge upgrading, end clients need advice and security: Panalpina is perfectly positioned in its consultant vocation in developing a more in-depth customs accompaniment.
“What we could not do in the past, including optimising and adding value to the customs clearance service, the special procedures, mainly because of the rigidity of our previous tool when faced with special requests, has been made possible with Conex”, continues Doriane GUERY. “This boosts our development and encourages new challenges, because we know that we can rely on our expert partner. We know in advance that we can count on rapid concrete operational answers from Conex!” Alban GRUSON, Conex CEO, adds “We are really happy to be one of Panalpina’s referenced suppliers. It compensates our development and support teams’ efforts when a client of this stature and reputation chooses us.”
About Panalpina
Panalpina France represents one of the world leaders in transport and logistics. Panalpina France counts 9 profit centres and employs 375 collaborators, for a 2017 turnover of more than 232 million euros. The group has operations on all continents.
Panalpina offers services in the following domains: Air transport, Maritime transport, Logistics, Energy solutions. On a global level, the company employs 14,500 people for a turnover of CHF196 billion (Swiss francs)
To learn more: www.panalpina.com