Feb/March 2007

Cybit, already one of the UK's foremost providers of vehicle tracking and fleet management systems, has reinforced its position by acquiring the UK-based Thales Telematics business from the French Thales group. The reported price for the deal is in the region of $1.95 million.

The acquisition is said to have added 400 customers and 10,000 vehicles to Cybit's portfolio, which now amounts to 1,500 customers and over 35,000 installed units.

Cybit has grown rapidly in recent years through judicious acquisition. It bought the Fleetstar online tracking portfolio of Trafficmaster in 2002, and added the GSM phone-based tracking solution of mapAmobile in 2004. Then in June 2006 it acquired the land- and ocean-based tracking business of Bluefinger.

Thales Telematics originated in 1998 as Orchid, a joint venture between Thales' predecessor, Thomson CSF Racal, and a company called European Telecom. It arrived on the scene well before the mushrooming of tracking systems in the early 2000s, and has picked up some substantial customers over the years. Recent adopters have included Fowler Welch Coolchain, Unichem and Coca Cola Enterprises.

Alongside conventional GPRS-style tracking, Thales Telematics has developed expertise in high-accuracy, radio-based telemetry solutions that use its own in-house tracking devices. These operate in the free-to-air Private Mobile Radio (PMR) frequency range. Users of such solutions include Western-Geco, Agrocom and Lafarge.

Cybit says it will support all Thales' existing technologies. According to chief executive officer Richard Horsman: 'The new capabilities and functionality of Thales' solutions integrate perfectly into our mobile resource management portfolio.'