BOX Telematics on track to be bought for £3.5m
MIDLANDS vehicle tracking business BOX Telematics is to be acquired by rival Trakm8 in a proposed £3.5m deal.
The deal will also see Trakm8 procuring the repayment by Coleshill-based BOX of a director’s loan of £750,000.
Trakm8 said the acquisition would be funded from its cash reserves, a newly signed debt facility of £2.5m and subscription by the directors for new ordinary shares at a price of 22p each to raise £0.72m.
To provide additional working capital the company has undertaken a placing and subscription for new ordinary shares at the issue price to raise £1.35m.
BOX Telematics has been designing and manufacturing tracking systems for more than a decade and has sold more than 69,000 products via an extensive dealer network.
Dorset-based Trakm8 is a provider in the global telematics market place. Its underlying business services includeTrakm8 Telematics which is a hardware and software provider.
Having been founded in 2002, Trakm8 Telematics now has over 110,000 units in the field.
A statement from Trakm8 said: “The acquisition is in line with Trakm8’s strategy of augmenting its organic growth with selective acquisitions, and will expand Trakm8’s telematics offering by consolidating its existing technical and software expertise with the manufacturing capabilities of BOX.”
Clydesdale Bank provided the £2.5m debt facility which will support the £3.5m purchase of BOX.
The funding arrangement was conducted by Antony Bryant, corporate banking director for Clydesdale Bank in the South West.
Brian Colquhoun, regional director at Clydesdale Bank, said: “Since the company was formed more than 10 years ago, Trakm8 has proven itself as an innovator in a competitive global marketplace. It developed the world’s first GPRS-based GPS tracking system and has since gone on to work with some of the world’s largest organisations.
“This acquisition, supported by our funding, is an illustration of the company’s strength and reputation and provides it with the opportunity to further develop its pioneering technology, target new markets and provide new employment.”
