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CalAmp acquires Tracker for £10m

Technology solutions specialist CalAmp has acquired Tracker for around US$13m (£10m) as it expands its global portfolio for connected vehicle and asset tracking solutions.

TRACKER and LoJack Italia will be aligned to support pan-European customer opportunities

Announced at the same time as CalAmp’s acquisition of Car Track in Mexico, the acquisition of the UK telematics and tracking giant will see the business strategically aligned with LoJack Italia, helping to drive CalAmp’s European expansion by developing connected car solutions targeting auto dealers, OEMs, insurance providers and other enterprise customers.

Tracker and LoJack Italia have similar models in terms of law enforcement relationships and strong brand awareness, and the acquisition will see them aligned to support key enterprise customer opportunities on a pan-European basis.

“We’re excited about the opportunity to increase our base of subscribers in the growing UK and European telematics market and broader European connected economy. We see joining the CalAmp team as a natural progression to facilitate that opportunity,” said Greig Hilton, managing director at Tracker.

The Tracker acquisition has closed and the Car Track acquisition is expected to close in March. These acquisitions accelerate CalAmp’s international expansion and, in combination with LoJack Italia, are expected to contribute more than $10m a quarter in recurring revenue in the second half of fiscal 2020 and account for more than 400,000 subscribers across three countries.

“We see a significant opportunity for international expansion and global enterprise customer engagement for higher margin recurring revenue services through the LoJack Mexico and Tracker acquisitions,” said Justin Schmid, general manager of LoJack International Operations. “LoJack Mexico and Tracker are already recognised leaders in their respective regions for telematics and SVR services. The recognised brands and their channels are expected to extend CalAmp’s global reach for advanced connected car services for enterprise customers and consumers alike.”

In a statement, former Tracker parent Tantalum said the sale, which follows swiftly on from its acquisition of Springwork, would enable it to focus on delivering global connected car software and payments opportunities with its partners, such as its current rollout with AT&T across the US.

Tantalum investor director, Lincoln Jopp of Disruptive Capital, said: “The sale made good strategic sense and good business sense. Combined with the sale of the fleet services from Tracker to Movil, it represents a healthy 8.1x return on our original investment from when we acquired Tracker from Direct Line in 2014. Disruptive backs great management and we commend the team at Tracker for transforming it over the past five years.”

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Natalie Middleton

Natalie has worked as a fleet journalist for over 20 years, previously as assistant editor on the former Company Car magazine before joining Fleet World in 2006. Prior to this, she worked on a range of B2B titles, including Insurance Age and Insurance Day.