TeleCommunication Systems (TCS) has announced that it has entered into a definitive merger agreement to acquire Networks In Motion for an aggregate of $170M. The merger consideration will be paid in a combination of cash, TCS common stock and promissory notes. Networks In Motion’s Board of Directors has unanimously adopted the merger agreement and recommended its approval by Networks In Motion’s stockholders. The acquisition accelerates TCS’ position in enabling mobile operators to offer enhanced location-based data services.
The move by TCS reflects the relatively quiet success achieved by Networks in Motion and TeleNav and a couple of other companies in building a highly profitable business around a combined base of approximately 20 million+ subscribers to navigation applications for mobile phones. The $170M valuation also helps TeleNav which is approaching an initial public offering. The announcement is potentially bad news for Google which recently entered the smartphone navigation space with its free turn-by-turn navigation application for Android-based phones. NIM’s relationship with Verizon will likely result in Verizon-only capabilities being leveraged in the market, such as probe-based traffic data, which Google will be unable to match due to its much smaller base of users.
According to Strategy Analytics estimates, Android-based smartphones will represent approximately 10% of all smartphones in 2010, but only a subset of these will be compatible with Google’s TbT application and only a subset of these will actually download the application. Nevertheless, the navigation on smartphone business opportunity has again proven to be more significant than originally thought, now representing a market worth, in total, as much as $2B. Much of this value is deriving not only from the application subscriptions but also from the sale of additional “premium” content, such as traffic data, or updates within the applications, not unlike other profitable application segments, such as on-device gaming.
In the end, carriers are more likely to support navigation partners that provide a path to profitability from subscriptions and in-application sales versus free applications such as Google’s Tbt offering. So, while Navigon will continue to dominate the iPhone navigation segment and Google will increasingly rule the Android world, a combined TCS/NIM will grow stronger via its relationship with Verizon. Of course, TCS/NIM will also benefit from offering a more fully evolved and acceptable navigation solution relative to the Google offering.
http://www.networksinmotion.com/newsroom/12_01_2009_TCS_acquire_NIM.php-Lanctot
