Wow, TeleAtlas had TomTom (who also had their own large booth) as well as other partners (click the link its a pretty long list) in their huge booth at both CES and recently at CTIA and I am wondering what this effect will have on the whole GPS industry with the only other main provider of maps NAVTEQ (which is in the process of being bought out by Nokia) providing competition and as an alternative if TomTom buys out TeleAtlas. Hopefully we will be seeing some cool new 3D mapping on newer TomTom units as well, maybe it will be under www.tomtomsecrets.com and TeleAtlas will leverage some of the user updates that comes from TomTom MapShare. This could be a great win-win for the consumer.
Here are the details:
This is a joint announcement of TomTom N.V.("TomTom") and Tele Atlas N.V. ("Tele Atlas") which is required pursuant to the provisions of section 9b paragraph 1 of the Dutch Securities Markets Supervision Decree 1995 (Besluit toezicht effectenverkeer 1995) in connection with the recommended public offer by TomTom for all outstanding ordinary shares with a nominal value of EUR 0.10 each (the "Shares"; holders of such Shares being referred to as "Shareholders") in the share capital of Tele Atlas (the "Offer"). This announcement and related materials do not constitute an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell shares. Any offer will be made only by means of the Offer Memorandum as defined below. Not for release, distribution or publication, in whole or in part to Australia, Canada, Italy or Japan.
Amsterdam, 14 May 2008 - TomTom N.V. ("TomTom" or the "Offeror") and Tele Atlas N.V. ("Tele Atlas") hereby jointly announce that they have received unconditional clearance from the European Commission for the proposed acquisition by TomTom of Tele Atlas. The ruling of the EC is the best possible outcome for TomTom and Tele Atlas allowing the new combination to go ahead with the full execution of its strategy. Clearance from the US authorities was received in October 2007.
The combination will create new technologies for interactive map creation, enrichment and maintenance. TomTom Map Share(TM) enables TomTom's installed base of nearly 20 million to contribute to digital map creation and maintenance. TomTom IQ Routes(TM) adds to the map routing information based on the actual speeds driven on roads, which may differ for the time of the day, day of the week, or season in the year. TomTom HD Traffic(TM) real time information can be overlaid on map data to further enhance the quality of routing and traffic information.
Additional incremental data from TomTom will allow Tele Atlas to introduce new features such as more frequent map updates. Superior, cost efficiently created content will enable Tele Atlas to further strengthen its market position in the rapidly growing worldwide market for digital maps and to grow its addressable market by investing cost synergies in increasing global coverage.
The end result - better maps produced more efficiently and updated more frequently - will benefit all current and future customers of Tele Atlas. Tele Atlas customers' relationship with the company will remain exactly the same. All Tele Atlas customers, including TomTom, will have access to the same higher quality maps, at the same time and will pay a comparable price. Customers' confidentiality will be safeguarded and will never be at risk.
Acceptance Period
The acceptance period under the Offer which began at 9:00 hours, Amsterdam time (3:00 hours, New York time), on 19 November 2007 will end at 15:00 hours, Amsterdam time (9:00 hours, New York time), on 30 May 2008 (the "Current Acceptance Closing Date").
Garmin also a partner tried in the past to purchase TeleAtlas for a much lower price, so we will see what happens with the partners since partner licensing is a great revenue stream, but I think it will move forward.