Aug/Sept 2008

Telematics and tracking systems specialist Cybit has further reinforced its market position by a new acquisition – thought to be its sixth in as many years – and chief executive Richard Horsman does not rule out yet more acquisitions in future. 'Cybit is well placed to further develop the business through a combination of organic and acquisitive growth,' he says.

The latest acquisition is OxLoc, a specialist in tracking non-powered assets. The deal is described as including all OxLoc's hardware, software and intellectual property, which will continued to be developed. Steve Jones, Cybit's director of specialist tracking solutions, promises that Cybit will offer continuity of service to OxLoc's existing customers.

OxLoc's speciality is tracking assets such as trailers, shipping containers and plant equipment. It uses proprietary power management techniques that are said to promote long-life battery operation, and its solutions combine sensor and RFID technologies with GPS and GSM.

Cybit's Richard Horsman identifies particular synergies between OxLoc and Cybit's existing Fleetstar product suite, pointing out that the two companies have worked together in the past to deliver battery-powered asset tracking.

Previous acquisitions by Cybit have included part or all of the telematics operations of Fleetstar (from Trafficmaster), mapAmobile, Amatics, Bluefinger and Thales. Its most recent acquisition, early last year, was Truck24, a leading German-based telematics company with a presence in Germany, Switzerland and Austria.