Verizon to buy Irish software company Fleetmatics for $2.4bn

1 Aug 2016

Fleetmatics was founded in Dublin and employs 1,200 and is the global leader in SaaS-based mobile fleet management technology

US telecoms giant Verizon is to buy Irish mobile workforce technology company Fleetmatics for $2.4bn in cash.

Founded in 2004 in a tiny office in Templeogue to provide mobile-based solutions to transport firms, Fleetmatics today serves 37,000 customers and approximately 737,000 subscribed vehicles worldwide.

The Dublin-headquartered company has a global workforce of 1,200 people.

Fleetmatics provides web-based software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions for fleet operators, with visibility into vehicle location, fuel usage, speed and mileage, as well as other insights into the performance of their mobile workforce.

‘Verizon and Fleetmatics share a vision that the SaaS-based fleet management solution market is extraordinarily large, lightly penetrated, global and fragmented, which can best be attacked together with a world-class product offering and the largest distribution channel in the industry’
– JIM TRAVERS, FLEETMATICS

The acquisition of Fleetmatics comes just a week after it emerged Verizon was acquiring original internet portal Yahoo for more than $4bn.

The Fleetmatics acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals, as well as a sanction of a scheme of arrangement by the Irish High Court, and is expected to close in the fourth quarter.

Shared vision for the future of fleet management

“Fleetmatics is a market leader in North America – and increasingly internationally – and they’ve developed a wide-range of compelling SaaS-based products and solutions for small-and-medium-sized businesses,” said Andrés Irlando, CEO of Verizon Telematics.

“The powerful combination of products and services, software platforms, robust customer bases, domain expertise and experience, and talented and passionate teams among Fleetmatics, the recently-acquired Telogis, and Verizon Telematics will position the combined companies to become a leading provider of fleet and mobile workforce management solutions globally,” Irlando added.

The New York Stock Exchange-listed Fleetmatics reported total revenues of $284.8m in 2015, an increase of 23pc compared to $231.6m in 2014.

Verizon paid $60 in cash per share, representing an overall value of $2.4bn.

“Verizon and Fleetmatics share a vision that the SaaS-based fleet management solution market is extraordinarily large, lightly penetrated, global and fragmented, which can best be attacked together with a world-class product offering and the largest distribution channel in the industry,” said Jim Travers, chairman and CEO of Fleetmatics.

“Fleetmatics brings over 37,000 customers, approximately 737,000 subscribers, a broad portfolio of industry leading products, and a team of 1,200 professionals focused on solving the critical challenges of businesses that deploy mobile workforces. We are excited to partner with Verizon in fulfilling the mission of becoming the largest mobile workforce management company in the world,” Travers added.

US highway image by e2dan via Shutterstock

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com