Verizon recently announced that it continues its policy of large investments with the acquisition of Fleetmatics, a telematics company from Ireland.
The value of the deal is about $2.4 billion in cash, which should allow the telecom carrier to start developing products for enterprises from areas such as logistics and dynamic workforces.
As part of the arrangement, Fleetmatics becomes an integral part of Verizon Telematics, a subsidiary of Verizon Wireless that delivers solutions for mobile workforces, Internet of Things (IoT) and fleet management.
The purchase is part of a series of important financial investments that Verizon did in the last period. Six weeks ago, Verizon Telematics purchased Telogis, but the exact terms remained confidential. Only last week, the telco purchased Yahoo's assets for $4.8 billion.
The series of purchases is no surprise to those who are keeping an eye on Verizon's main business. With more and more customers turning to digitalized forms of communication, the company has seen slower growth in its default telecom sector. As a result, it looks to invest in newer areas in order to maintain its margins high and its revenues on the plus side.
With the purchase of AOL and more recently Yahoo, Verizon scaled up its media, advertising and content presence. The Fleetmatics acquisition, on the other hand, aims to position Verizon deep into enterprise services — enterprise mobility, specifically.
This market is blooming, which is why Verizon is confident enough to put such a hefty sum in its future.
There are a number of established customers that require these services: specifically, ventures that operate fleets of workers who are constantly on the go. Among Fleetmatics' current customers are names such as DirecTV and Time Warner Cable.
Thanks to the development of enterprise mobility and smartphone services, these customers have access to a wide array of tools that improve their work routine, and Verizon aims to provide as many as possible in one go.
The second resource pool that Verizon might tap is made of companies such as Uber, which put a lot of effort into building logistics enterprises. Verizon also sees a window of opportunity in players in the market that attempt to provide an alternative to traditional transport of products, be it startups or Amazon.
Fleetmatics is a SaaS-based provider of GPS and other services to fleets and companies with mobile workforces. Among its services are driver and car security services, fuel tracking, location services, as well as dispatching and billing/invoice services. To keep the buzzing enterprise going, Fleetmatics employs 1,200 people who are serving more than 37,000 customers and 737,000 subscribers.
The venture debuted its public trading in 2012, and the Verizon deal will be equivalent to paying $60 per share in cash. Back when it was an independent company, Fleetmatics managed to gain the investors' trust and raised more than $93 million from investors such as IVP.
Andres Irlando, the helm of Verizon Telematics, explains that the acquisition will support the division's telematics services addressed to small and medium ventures.
"Verizon and Fleetmatics share a vision," says Jim Travers, chairman and CEO of Fleetmatics.
Insiders familiar with the matter estimate that the deal will close during the Q4 2016.
