Tripmaster Corp. has announced that Control Instruments Group Ltd. of South Africa has acquired a majority shareholding in Tripmaster.

Richard M. Geib, former majority owner and CEO will continue as president and CEO and as a minority investor in the company. Tripmaster Corp. will continue selling and supporting its products in North America from its U.S. headquarters in Arlington, Texas.
Control Instruments designs, manufactures and owns the intellectual property for the Fleet Manager range of onboard computers that have been sold worldwide under the Siemens VDO FM brand for nearly a decade.
Together, CI and Tripmaster will have a combined installed user base of 250,000 onboard computers and telematics units in more than 40 countries.
“Tripmaster founded the U.S. onboard electronic recording business in the 1970s and continues today as an experienced industry leader and innovator. The affiliation with Control Instruments brings world class experience, technology, development and manufacturing capability to Tripmaster,” said Geib. “Control Instruments really knows this business, and our cultures are remarkably similar. Control Instruments can bring an international perspective and capability to Tripmaster.”
Tripmaster onboard computer products were originally developed by Rockwell International, later ArvinMeritor. Affiliated with Tripmaster since 1983 as a reseller, Richard Geib and a group of investors bought the Tripmaster assets from Meritor Automotive in 1999, and Geib subsequently acquired 100 percent ownership in 2004.
Founded in 1946 and headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa, Control Instruments supplies automotive electronics products to original equipment manufacturers, is a major distributor of automotive aftermarket products, as well as a developer and manufacturer of fleet management products, software and services to fleets worldwide.