Verizon to acquire Hughes Telematics for $612 million

Verizon Communications Inc today agreed to buy Hughes Telematics Inc, for $612 million in cash in order to expand its capabilities in the automotive and fleet telematics market.

Verizon said that the acquisition will accelerate its growth in key vertical segments, including emerging machine-to-machine (M2M) services applications driven by consumer trends and increasingly connected lifestyles.

Founded in 2006, Atlanta, Georgia-based Hughes Telematics provides vehicle telematic products and services such as GPS navigation, emergency support, and vehicle diagnostic systems.

Through its Networkfleet subsidiary, which generates more than half of its sales, Hughes Telematics offers fleet tracking and reporting services to companies who want to track the location of company vehicles, monitor vehicle maintenance needs, or track mileage.

It also designs systems that allow drivers to access content on the Web and in mobile devices such as phones and digital music players, as well as features such as vehicle locating and locking or unlocking the vehicle from a smartphone.

The company provides telematics service for all new vehicles sold by Mercedes-Benz in the US, and it recently entered into a deal to provide similar service from 2013 to specified Volkswagen brand vehicles sold or leased in the US.