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<\/p>\nBridgestone Europe NV\/SA, a subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation in EMEA, has entered into an agreement with TomTom to acquire its telematics business, for a cash consideration of 910 million euros. <\/p>\n
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Bridgestone will acquire all issued and outstanding share capital of TomTom Telematics for a cash consideration of \u20ac910 million, subject to customary closing adjustments. The acquisition is being funded with \u201cavailable cash on the balance sheet\u201d and is expected to be EPS accretive in year one. It is only the telematics business unit of TomTom which is being acquired.<\/p>\n
The transaction is anticipated to be completed in the second quarter of 2019.<\/p>\n
Bridgestone says that the transaction will bring together the world\u2019s largest tyre and rubber company with the number one provider of digital fleet solutions in Europe, creating a leading data platform for connected vehicles.<\/p>\n
TomTom Telematics will \u201caccelerate Bridgestone on its journey to becoming a mobility solutions leader in the region\u201d, and the combination of both companies\u2019 offerings will allow Bridgestone to cross-sell tyres and solutions to a larger customer base. Furthermore, the data access will enhance Bridgestone\u2019s virtual tyre development and testing as well as connected tyre innovation benefiting all customers including OEMs.<\/p>\n
New social, economic and technological megatrends are pushing the pace of change in the automotive industry and the future of vehicles is connected, autonomous, shared and electric. In that context, Bridgestone has identified digital mobility solutions and fleet solutions as a strategic priority. This is reinforced by the growing importance of fleets over individually-owned vehicles for transportation of people and goods. Increasing demand in the transportation industry means that fleet owners and managers need to maximise productivity and minimise total cost of ownership more than ever.<\/p>\n
This latest investment builds on previous work at Bridgestone to strengthen its digital capabilities in Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Specifically, the company has built capabilities in data collection from sensors, data platforms and analytics. This has resulted in the launch of a range of digital solutions and applications such as Tirematics, Mobox, FleetPulse and Bridgestone Connect.<\/p>\n
TomTom Telematics has a user base of 860,000 vehicles of which more than two thirds are commercial. It has a tailored go-to-market system and a premium digital offering including WebFleet and NextFleet. Its strong underlying technologies based on data analytics rely on an open, scalable, secure and cloud-based platform. It handles on average over 800 million GPS positions, 3.3 million trips, and 200 million inbound messages per day.<\/p>\n
Paolo Ferrari, CEO and President of Bridgestone EMEA, Executive Vice President of Bridgestone Group, said:\u00a0\u201cWe have found our perfect match in TomTom Telematics. Our complementary assets and capabilities will create a fleet solutions powerhouse and will further strengthen Bridgestone\u2019s digital technology arm. Beyond scale, there would be considerable benefits by complementing our offerings, allowing us, among many other opportunities, to sell tyres and solutions across our customers. We are now well-positioned in EMEA to accelerate our data-driven business, expand our fleet customer base and seize fast-growing, profitable opportunities in the automotive mobility industry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recognise and respect the talent and skill of TomTom Telematics\u2019 management team and its 670 employees. It\u2019s our intention to foster and grow the business and support its current plans. We want TomTom Telematics to continue serving its customers as successfully as it has done over the last few years and take advantage of its number one position in a fast-growing market.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter a thorough review of multiple strategic options, we have determined that the sale of TomTom Telematics to Bridgestone is in the best interest of both TomTom Telematics and our core location technology business,\u201d\u00a0commented Harold Goddijn, CEO, TomTom.\u00a0\u201cWe will continue to invest in our innovative map-making system, enabling faster map updates while lowering operational costs, paving the road towards autonomous driving.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTomTom Telematics is the number one Telematics Service Provider in Europe, and we continue to grow our installed base of vehicles we service globally,\u201d added Thomas Schmidt, Managing Director, TomTom Telematics. \u201cWe look forward to accelerating our ambitious growth plan and seizing new opportunities as part of Bridgestone. In the meantime, we expect the transition to be seamless with no disruption for our customers, suppliers and employees.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bridgestone Europe NV\/SA, a subsidiary of Bridgestone Corporation in EMEA, has entered into an agreement with TomTom to acquire its telematics business, for a cash consideration of 910 million euros.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":21993,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bridgestone","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n