Telular Corporation has announced the signing of a definitive merger agreement to acquire SkyBitz, Inc. The combined companies will create the largest "pure player" asset tracking and management company in the world, Telular says.


The acquisition expands Telular's position in the M2M space as a result of SkyBitz's broad base of additional customers and proprietary SAAS technology platform.

SkyBitz's Global Locating System (GLS) satellite-based technology provides real-time visibility of many asset types. SkyBitz addresses a multi-billion dollar market opportunity by reducing operating costs, increasing efficiency and aiding in the compliance with regulatory requirements across an increasingly complex set of supply chains and business ecosystems.

"I am very excited about the acquisition of SkyBitz as it gives us the leading position in an adjacent M2M vertical market, provides immediate incremental cash flow and builds upon our stream of high-margin, recurring service revenues," said Joseph Beatty, president and chief executive officer of Telular Corporation. "SkyBitz's management approach and growth objectives fit very well with Telular's strategy and include growing its installed base of units, enhancing its international presence, and entering new vertical markets related to asset tracking. Combined with Telular's existing portfolio of Telguard and TankLink services, we can address a much larger market opportunity and expand our technology base with satellite communications capabilities that will complement our historical expertise in cellular communications. We believe that this acquisition will help us accelerate our growth and profitability in the wireless space while maintaining a strong financial position and staunchly supporting a tangible return to our shareholders in the form of a quarterly dividend."

Dr. Homaira Akbari, president and chief executive officer of SkyBitz, plans to remain with the combined company as president of SkyBitz. In addition, SkyBitz's experienced management team is expected to stay in its entirety to help grow the asset tracking business and continue developing related, add-on services in the areas of cargo security, cargo status monitoring, preventative maintenance and other applications which will be soon announced.

"SkyBitz's technology platform is the industry's best-in-breed; providing a powerful, highly reliable solution that is complementary to Telular's existing portfolio of M2M solutions," explained Dr. Akbari. "As the market leader in asset tracking, we have developed cutting-edge SAAS solutions that are well suited to serve many industries, including government, due to the patented way in which we use GPS signals to determine the location of critical assets."

Transaction terms include a purchase price of $42 million, comprised of $35 million in cash and $7 million in newly issued shares of common stock.