Geotab to acquire BSM Technologies

Oakville, Canada-based Geotab, one of the world’s largest suppliers of sensors for commercial vehicles, today announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire BSM Technologies.

Toronto-based BSM provides telematics and asset-management solutions to more than 165,000 vehicles across government and private fleets in Canada and the United States. The completion of this transaction will add to the over 1.5 million fleet telematics subscribers using Geotab across the globe.

“This acquisition will allow BSM’s technology and know-how in important verticals like government and rail to be made available through Geotab’s cost effective, reliable, scalable and secured fleet management platform,” said Neil Cawse, chief executive officer at Geotab, in a statement.

The purchase price of C$1.40 per BSM share translates into an approximately C$117.3 million acquisition. The transaction represents a 58% premium to the 20-day volume weighted average price ending April 5, 2019.

Geotab’s market prominence is reflected in major account wins, including the awarding of the world’s largest single-source telematics contract in history by GSA Fleet, a division of the General Services Administration (GSA), to equip its 217,000 U.S. government vehicles with Geotab technology.

Earlier this year Geotab announced that the cryptographic module in the company’s GO vehicle tracking device received FIPS 140-2 validation by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Geotab is the first and only telematics company to achieve this standard. The GO device plugs directly into a vehicle and tracks mileage, incidents and engine and battery health.

The BSM acquisition has received unanimous approval by the company’s board of directors but to take effect it must be approved by BSM shareholders at a meeting expected to take place in May 2019.

The arrangement must be approved by at least two-thirds of shareholders.