Masternaut

Masternaut
Private
Industry Telematics
Founded 1996
Founder Serge Deleau
Headquarters Leeds, UK, UK
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
  • Dhruv S. Parekh (CEO)
Number of employees
 400
Website Masternaut.com

Masternaut is a telematics company specialising in fleet and asset management. Achieving recognition with Martin Port as CEO and featured as a 2015 UK Government Future 50 Tech Company and in the Sunday Times Tech Track 100, a list of the fastest growing UK technology firms, in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2014.[1] In April 2011 Masternaut merged with former AIM-listed competitor Cybit, and is operating under the Masternaut name. The company is owned by Summit Partners and Fleetcor, following its acquisition from Francisco Partners in 2014.[2] Masternaut has around 400 employees, based in the UK and France.

Masternaut and Cybit company history

Masternaut was founded in 1996 by Serge Deleau in France under the name SDM. When entering the UK marketplace, growth was rapid. Martin Hiscox with the backing of Francisco Partners rebranded to Masternaut in 2012. In 2013, Masternaut acquired Three X, a mobile workforce software business, from GE.[3]

Previously a Masternaut competitor, AIM-listed Cybit, led by CEO Richard Horsman, acquired Thales Telematics from Thales Group[4] and public sector telematics specialist Amatics[5] in 2007. Cybit made a further acquisition in 2008 of Truck24, a German Telematics Logistics provider, for €4 million.[6] In 2009, private equity firm Francisco Partners acquired Cybit Holdings plc in a £23 million deal, taking the company private.[7] Cybit also acquired Oxloc, a specialist non-powered asset tracking devices provider, that year.[8] Meanwhile, Masternaut was on the acquisition trail, signing hosting and data store company Fibre-City for £6 million.[9]

In 2011, Bill Henry as Chairman with the backing of Francisco Partners Private Equity merged Masternaut with Cybit in a £100m deal to create Europe's largest telematics solutions provider, with a 10,000-strong customer base spread across 32 countries.[10][11] However, Berg Insight reported that this position was lost in 2015 to Tom Tom as new business growth faltered. The Berg report for 2016 indicates Masternaut continues to lose market share to key competitors. Masternaut remains the largest telematics provider in the UK, and as part of the FleetCor family, is one of the largest fleet suppliers in the UK covering a fleet's total cost of ownership needs.

Masternaut signed a partnership with Telefonica in 2012, estimated to be worth $910million between 2012–2020.[12] Masternaut also has partnerships with SwissCom and with many specialist fleet providers, to ensure fleet managers can meet their needs in one place.

In 2014, Masternaut Group Holdings was sold by Martin Hiscox then Chairman and Francisco Partners to Summit Partners and Fleetcor Technologies for an undisclosed sum. The company appointed Dhruv S. Parekh as CEO of Masternaut in 2015.[13]

The launch of new fuel and maintenance modules in 2016 witnessed Masternaut's efforts to regain market share in Europe and drive sales growth through technical innovation whilst leveraging its Fleetcor relationship.

In 2017 to date, Masternaut has launched:

  • An OEM partnership with Vauxhall and Opel that enables customers to get Masternaut's devices pre-installed in new vehicles prior to delivery.[14]
  • A fuel card in partnership with Allstar that provides customers with a single view of fleet data and fuel expenditure online via Masternaut Connect.[15]
  • A self-install telematics device that enables customers to monitor short term hires and grey fleets without the need for a professional installation.[16]

In August 2017, Masternaut partnered with Telefleet to come with a telematics based fleet insurance product.[17][18]

Technology

Masternaut's solutions use Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to track a vehicle, employee or asset's location and transmit performance data in real time to Masternaut's data centre. Customers can view the data on their own vehicles' location, speed, and other parametres in near real-time.

This has a number of applications, such as fleet management, scheduling workforce management, fixed asset management and lone worker tracking. These can be integrated with back-office systems, such as Microsoft Dynamics, Sage, Goldmine, SAP and Oracle.

References

  1. ↑ "Fast Track100". Sunday Times. 2009. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  2. ↑ "Telematics provider Masternaut bought by Summit Partners and FleetCor". Fleet News. 6 June 2014. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "Tracking move". Fleet News. 10 October 2006. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  4. ↑ "Cybit acquires Thales Telematics". Computer Weekly. 16 February 2007. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  5. ↑ "Cybit acquires Amatics". Modern Utility Management. 1 December 2007. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  6. ↑ "CybIT acquires TRUCK24 for total 4 mln euros". LSE. April 2008. Retrieved December 24, 2012.
  7. ↑ "Europe News: Francisco Clinches Cybit Deal". EBSCO Host. December 2009. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  8. ↑ "Cybit acquires OxLoc". Manufacturing and Logistics IT. 14 August 2008. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  9. ↑ "Europe News: Masternaut Three X acquires FibreCity for £6m". Telegraph. 14 February 2009. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  10. ↑ "New tracking business formed in merger". Growth Business. 12 April 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  11. ↑ "Chancellor backs UK grab for data analytics market". Telegraph. 16 May 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  12. ↑ "Need for revenue drives Telco M&A". Financial Times. 10 September 2012. Retrieved 24 December 2012.
  13. ↑ "Masternaut Appoints Dhruv S. Parekh as chief executive officer". Fleet News. 14 May 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  14. ↑ "Vauxhall partners with Masternaut to offer pre-installed tracking for vans". www.transportengineer.org.uk. Retrieved 2017-08-21.
  15. ↑ "Allstar and Masternaut join forces to launch fuel card". www.fleetnews.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-08-21.
  16. ↑ "Masternaut launches telematics solution for short-term hire vehicles". http://www.commercialfleet.org/. Retrieved 2017-08-21. External link in |website= (help)
  17. ↑ Gangcuangco, Terry. "Telefleet partners with Masternaut for fleet insurance". Insurance Business. Retrieved 2017-09-22.
  18. ↑ "Masternaut and Telefleet launch 'UK's first' integrated telematics-based insurance". www.commercialfleet.org. Retrieved 2017-09-22.
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