Bridgestone Corporation announced that its subsidiary Bridgestone Europe NV/SA, has entered into an agreement with TomTom to acquire TomTom Telematics, its digital fleet solutions business, for a cash consideration of €910 million (US$1.034 billion). €750 million will be distributed to TomTom shareholders by means of a capital repayment, combined with a share consolidation.

The transaction is anticipated to be completed latest in the second quarter of 2019, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions such as regulatory approvals.

TomTom is the number one provider of digital fleet solutions in Europe, a marketplace with very diverse in legal, commercial and cultural requirements. Its digital fleet solutions business has successfully demonstrated its ability to operate in complex and demanding market environments and has continued to strengthen its potential to expand globally.

TomTom’s digital fleet solution offers an industry leading data platform for connected vehicles enabling safer driving, improving productivity and optimizing uptime for personal and commercial mobility.

Combining this digital fleet solution with Bridgestone’s tire expertise and global service network creates an opportunity that accelerates the its effort to become a key partner in the Mobility as a Service (MaaS) landscape with leading tire products, services and solutions offerings, Bridgestone said.

In addition to reinforcing Bridgestone’s broad and leading portfolio, this strategic investment will also strengthen its position as an innovative leader in the field of tire design, and tire predictive maintenance service.

Bridgestone will gain unprecedented insights into vehicle and tire operating conditions and be able to leverage a growing installed user base of 860,000 vehicles communicating 200 million data points per day.

With this acquisition, Bridgestone adds core components to its Tire and Diversified Products as a Solution (Bridgestone T&DPaaS) strategy defining the company’s evolving business domain.

TomTom said that the transaction allows the Telematics business to accelerate its growth trajectory and TomTom to become a more focused and agile company, shaping the future of driving with highly accurate maps, navigation software and real-time traffic information and services.

After a thorough review of strategic options, we have determined that the sale of Telematics to Bridgestone is in the best interest of both Telematics and our core location technology business. We will continue to invest in our innovative map-making system, enabling faster map updates while lowering operational costs, paving the road towards autonomous driving.

—Harold Goddijn, CEO, TomTom

Bridgestone Corporation, headquartered in Tokyo, is the world’s largest tire and rubber company. In addition to tires for use in a wide variety of applications, it also manufactures a broad range of diversified products, which include industrial rubber and chemical products and sporting goods. Its products are sold in more than 150 nations and territories around the world.

TomTom is the leading independent location technology specialist, shaping mobility with highly accurate maps, navigation software, real-time traffic information and services.