NEW YORK CITY—When banking conglomerate JPMorgan Chase bought Vastera, a vendor of global trade management software, for $129 million last month, analysts weren't exactly taken aback by the development. "It's not surprising," said John Fontanella, an analyst with market research firm The Yankee Group. "Everybody has been trying to [link] the transactional flow with the financial flow in international trade."

Dulles, Va.-based Vastera develops software that automates global trade processes. Although many observers anticipated that trade security concerns would drive up sales of those packages, that didn't happen, and Vastera wasn't selling software as fast it liked, says Meta Group analyst Dwight Klappich. To broaden its portfolio, Vastera began offering trade management services to shippers, taking on duties traditionally handled by importers, exporters, freight forwarders, and customs brokers.

Analysts believe that JPMorgan Chase might try to sell software and trade management services to its roster of international clients. "At first glance, JPMorgan Chase may seem like an unlikely acquirer of Vastera," said Adrian Gonzalez, director of the Logistics Executive Council at the ARC Advisory Group. "But the role and value of finance in global trade management is often more critical and valuable than the actual movement of goods. The ability to finance inventory, for example, can have significant implications on cash flow, taxes, and other balance-sheet entries that ultimately grab the attention of chief financial officers and Wall Street."

JPMorgan will have to persuade shippers that it can offer more than banking services. "If they are successful in bringing on new clients for Vastera—and they have a ton of international clients—five years from now [the purchase] will be a success," said Phil Obal, president of software research firm Industrial Data and Information.

Some analysts aren't entirely convinced that the financial giant will be able to absorb the software vendor into its buttoned-down banking culture. "The challenge will be getting those people working and thinking in the same way," said Fontanella.

The Vastera acquisition provided the latest evidence of growing consolidation in the market for trade management software. Late in 2004, TradeBeam Holdings Inc. of San Mateo, Calif., purchased Open Harbor Inc. for an undisclosed amount. "The number of stand-alone [global trade management] vendors is quickly dwindling," said Gonzalez.