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Neither company provided details on what the settlement involved. (Ashi Sae Yang/Getty Images)

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and this week resolved a dispute over the former’s acquisition of Seattle-based factoring specialist Outgo in May.

A potentially explosive June 17 emergency hearing in the Superior Court of Cobb County in Georgia was canceled after the two companies settled.

Neither company was willing to provide more details on what the settlement involved.

Senior Judge Adele Grubbs on June 13 convened the June 17 hearing after an emergency motion for hearing from OTR Capital — which does business as OTR Solutions — on June 12 accused DAT of ignoring parts of a June 10 ruling by the judge.

That was after OTR alleged Beaverton, Ore.-based DAT’s acquisition of and subsequent actions breached binding agreements between the one-time partners and caused harm to OTR’s business.

OTR filed an initial complaint May 30, seeking an emergency hearing.

DAT on June 18 issued a statement to Transport Topics that said: “DAT Freight & Analytics … has resolved [the] legal matter with OTR Solutions. Following the resolution, OTR voluntarily dismissed its lawsuit against DAT.

“DAT thanks OTR for their years of partnership and their collaboration in reaching a constructive outcome,” the company added.

Truckload freight marketplace and research group DAT acquired back-office payment specialist Outgo in May.

Three-year-old Outgo was launched by former Uber and Convoy executives.

DAT CEO Jeff Clementz said at the time of the deal that “acquiring Outgo paves the way for DAT to embed payments and financial services into our DAT One freight platform.”

The basis for the settled case centered on OTR alleging the purchase of Outgo violated a noncompete clause.

DAT and OTR entered into a nondisclosure agreement to discuss a potential referral partnership.

Under the NDA, DAT agreed to protect OTR data, and a breach of the agreement would cause OTR “irreparable harm which could not be adequately compensated by damages.”

The two companies in August 2021 entered a referral and revenue-sharing agreement. The agreement contains a noncompete clause and a commitment to not create a factoring business, argued OTR.

Following a June 10 interim hearing in front of Grubbs, DAT was ordered to not compete directly with the factoring business of OTR in the U.S. through Outgo or any other option, cease providing factoring services through Outgo in the U.S. and cease any use of a “blue checkmark” in the provision of online factoring services.

Roswell, Ga.-based OTR accused DAT of ignoring parts of the June 10 ruling.

How DAT placated OTR’s frustrations is unclear.

In a statement June 20, OTR told TT: “OTR and DAT were able to reach an amicable resolution. We look forward to focusing our attention on serving the needs of our clients.”

An OTR representative said no further details would be provided beyond the statement.

In the midst of the court filings, DAT said it would defend itself and refuted the allegations.

Once the court was notified of the settlement, DAT told TT: “Outgo, a DAT product, is fully operational through the DAT One platform — delivering fast, transparent payment services that help carriers manage cash flow and keep their businesses moving.”

DAT is pleased with the results of its acquisition.

“We’ve already seen the early returns of a bet that deeply aligned with our strategy: be the place where freight does business. The industry response has been awesome and overwhelming, but not without some choppy waters as we were leaving the dock,” DAT Chief of Analytics Ken Adamo wrote in a post on the LinkedIn social media platform.

“The road ahead is promising. We’ve got more to build. More to ship. More value to deliver. If the first month is any indicator, this team is going to do big things. Let’s Truckin’ go!” he added.