[Techtaffy Newsdesk]
Verizon Communications is acquiring Hughes Telematics (HTI) for $12 per share in cash, or a total of $612 million. The board of directors of Hughes Telematics has unanimously approved the transaction, and the transaction was unanimously approved by the directors of Verizon as well.
John Stratton (President, Verizon Enterprise Solutions): We expect M2M and telematics to drive significant growth for Verizon.
The transaction is subject to the expiration or early termination of the Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust waiting period and other customary closing conditions. The merger is expected to close in the third quarter of 2012, and Verizon plans to retain the existing management team and operate the new unit as a subsidiary within Verizon and operated as part of its Verizon Enterprise Solutions group. The business will continue to be headquartered in Atlanta.
Verizon was represented by UBS Investment Bank and Debevoise & Plimpton. HTI was represented by Barclays and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; and the special committee of the board of directors of HTI was represented by Moelis & Company and Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough.
Earlier this year Verizon had launched a new practice focused on developing telematics solutions.This transaction is expected to expand Verizon’s capabilities in the automotive and fleet telematics marketplace and accelerate growth in key vertical segments, including emerging machine-to-machine (M2M) services applications.
[Image Courtesy: Hughes Telematics]