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Europe's 2nd Largest Airports Group Acquires Business From Ernst & Young Technology Entrepreneur of the Year

Dépèche transmise le 1 décembre 2009 par PRNewswire

LEEDS, England, December 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Masternaut UK Ltd (known as Masternaut Three X) the vehicle tracking and mobile application specialist and one of the UK's fastest growing technology businesses has been acquired by Masternaut International, a subsidiary of Hub Telecom owned by Europe's second largest Airport group, Aeroports de Paris. The purchase of the UK business creates the Europe's largest fully integrated telematics, mobile resource and fleet management solutions organisation.

Martin Port who founded the UK business in 2002 grew the enterprise from a three person startup to one of Britain's fastest growing businesses. He was the 2008 Ernst & Young Technology Entrepreneur of the Year and the business has been ranked in the Tech Track 100 league table for the last three consecutive years in addition to a 2009 place in the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA. This is all thanks to an annual growth rate that exceeds 60 per cent. Martin Port recently made the headlines having been chosen as one of Dell's 'Heroes', a global advertising campaign that features successful entrepreneurs. Martin Port will remain at Masternaut Three X in his position as Managing Director.

Masternaut Three X employs 150 people across 4 sites in the UK and Ireland including Leeds, Skipton, Hull and Belfast with an international office in Sydney, Australia. The company specialises in vehicle and asset tracking technologies that help companies manage their assets more efficiently and reduce Carbon emissions. One of its clients United Biscuits managed to cut out three million unnecessary road miles using the system. Other famous clients include Harrods, Nestle, Indesit, DHL, PHS, fellow entrepreneur Duncan Bannatyne and Dragon's Den Winners Igloo Thermologistics. The company who is fast approaching 3000 customers in the UK made revenues of c.GBP 22m in 08/09 and saw profits of over GBP 2m EBITDA in the same period.

Masternaut Three X also made a number of acquisitions of its own over the last three years including the acquisition of Three X mobile solutions from GE in 2006. In 2008 the firm acquired internet service provider Fibre City and Microsoft Gold Partner ICM Business Solutions. Masternaut Three X owns a minority stake in Masternaut Australia and also in Sanef Tolling in the UK which was set up in 2008 to conduct road user charging trials for the Department for Transport.

"This is a fantastic milestone for the business. It's testament to the passion, devotion and commitment of our talented teams of people. We've delivered on our promises time after time for clients, and this has fuelled the growth of the business. This deal creates the largest fleet tracking company in Europe, backed by the experience and resources of Europe's 2nd largest airport operator whose annual revenues exceed 2.5 billion Euros. For the future it enables Masternaut International to accelerate its international growth and also enables us to better serve international clients," said Martin Port.

"The acquisition of Masternaut Three X in the UK is a fantastic opportunity for Masternaut International and for Hub Telecom, its controlling shareholder," said Frederic Dupeyron, the Deputy Chairman of Masternaut International who will also become the Chairman of the Board of Masternaut Three X." Together we will share access to a vast pool of human resources, technological and managerial expertise, all backed by a large company listed on Euronext Paris. The new entity will benefit from the financial strength, reputation and international presence of Aeroports de Paris. In addition we will reap the benefit of reduced time to market for the next generation of mobility solutions plus the UK's Three X Business Workflow Application Software will complement Masternaut's business throughout Europe."

Advisors to Masternaut Three X and its shareholders include corporate finance specialists Deloitte and Mazars, and solicitors were Fladgate and Brooke North. Advisors to Masternaut International were Lorentz Deschamps and Associates, PwC Transaction Services and Bredin Prat.

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CONTACT: Martin Port at Masternaut UK +44(0)113-281-4000 Email: