July/Aug 2004

The French-based parent company of Masternaut, one of Britain's fastest-growing telematics specialists, has been acquired by Sanef, a French group with major interests in road construction and tolling infrastructure.

The move is seen as a reflection of a gradual convergence between commercial vehicle telematics and road-user charging. Sanef is said to view Masternaut as a key to "a major assault" on the European telematics market, and Masternaut itself acknowledges that new-generation electronic road pricing schemes will rely on exactly this type of technology.

"Masternaut gives Sanef a ready-made platform to develop competitive systems and services for European-wide schemes," says UK managing director Martin Port.

In the UK in particular, Masternaut sees the acquisition as helping it to position itself as a contender for providing equipment and services for the UK Government's proposed road pricing scheme, due to come into effect in 2008. According to Martin Port: "The tie-up with Sanef will further boost our research and development and provide invaluable know-how at the highest levels of EU government."

 

Masternaut has only been active in the UK for two years, but has seen revenues rise quickly in that time, and its French parent company claims to have supplied equipment for tracking over 12,000 vehicles throughout Europe in real time - using technology which could be very relevant to real-time tolling systems.

Sanef has a staff of 3,000 and a turnover of £500 million, and has been involved in major road infrastructure developments, notable in northern and eastern France, as well as in managing roads when they are completed, and developing and hosting a range of electronic toll collection systems.

• Robert Goldwater has been recruited from a general management role to take on the job of UK sales director at Masternaut, and plans to create a national sales team. "Masternaut has built up exactly the right service at the right time," he says.