ECM giant OpenText has outlaid $US1.65 billion to acquire one of the world's largest business to business (B2B) electronic data interchange (EDI) networks, the GXS Trading Grid.

The cloud-based network is used by some of the world's largest companies to communicate internally and with business partners, using forms-based EDI over the Internet. 

It also offers a mapping and translation tool for exchanging business documents in different electronic formats with trading partners or internal applications.

FedEx used GXS’s integration technology  to develop FedExNet which processes more than 4.5 million business transactions per day and provides functionality such as business document process flow.

Kodak has GXS's Enterprise Gateway linked with its SAP system for auditing and tracking transactions, providing business information flows and automating system administration tasks.

GXS enables businesses to streamline new product launches, digitise accounts payable, automate warehouse receiving, conduct e-invoicing and e-payments and increase global supply chain visibility.

OpenText  intends combining its portfolio of Managed File Transfer, Secure E-mail, FAX, Capture and EDI with GXS's portfolio of B2B integration services and managed services, which helps customers to extend their partner networks to automate multi-enterprise processes.

Open Text also plans  to cross-sell its ECM products into the GXS Trading Grid's installed base

The combined companies will boast more than 80,000 customers worldwide conducting approximately 16 billion annual transactions in the cloud. 

"In today's global and highly distributed business, the on-going complexities and costs of do-it-yourself B2B integration pose significant challenges to organizations that need to integrate and orchestrate multi-enterprise processes across time, geographies and a multitude of trading partners," said Bob Segert, President and Chief Executive Officer of GXS. "Integrating the GXS portfolio into OpenText will allow CIOs to focus their efforts on driving revenue growth while enabling innovation to stay ahead of the competition."