Galway-based Blue Tree Systems acquired by IoT giant Orbcomm

2 Oct 2017

Blue Tree Systems provides asset management tools for the transportation industry. Image: noina/Shutterstock

Blue Tree Systems, a provider of enterprise fleet management solutions for the transportation industry, has been snapped up by Orbcomm.

It was announced today (2 October) that Blue Tree Systems has been acquired by New Jersey-headquartered Orbcomm, a provider of industrial IoT and machine-to-machine communications.

Blue Tree subsidiaries in the US, Germany and France are included in the acquisition.

Based in Galway Business Park, Blue Tree is a business telematics solution for large and mid-size truck fleets. It serves more than 300 customers and provides transportation management solutions across multiple classes of assets, including refrigerated straight trucks as well as refrigerated and dry trailers.

‘With advanced trucking solutions combined with an integrated software platform, Blue Tree is a strong strategic addition to Orbcomm’s broad transportation portfolio’
– MARC EISENBERG

 A strategic decision from Orbcomm

Marc Eisenberg, CEO of Orbcomm, explained the rationale behind the acquisition: “Combined with our acquisition of Inthinc in June, Blue Tree enables Orbcomm to provide the most complete transportation solution offering, covering nearly every asset class – from in-cab to fleet vehicles, to refrigerated assets to dry vans – making us the clear leader in this space and in global industrial IoT.

“With advanced trucking solutions combined with an integrated software platform, Blue Tree is a strong strategic addition to Orbcomm’s broad transportation portfolio.”

Blue Tree scaling up

Transport companies are increasingly looking to manage all of their assets under a single platform, and Blue Tree’s open Android architecture creates flexibility while being easy for drivers to use.

Founder and CEO of Blue Tree Systems, Charlie Cahill, said the increased scale the Orbcomm offers will help support the rapid growth currently being experienced by his company. He added that they “look forward to leveraging Orbcomm’s strong brand equity in our markets”.

Blue Tree Systems is one of the businesses invested in by the Ulster Bank Diageo Fund, which is managed by Investec Ventures. Investec Corporate Finance also advised Blue Tree on the deal.

Ellen Tannam was a journalist with Silicon Republic, covering all manner of business and tech subjects

editorial@siliconrepublic.com