Cobra and SA’s Tracker announce alliance

01 Oct 2009

A new strategic alliance between Cobra and South Africa's Tracker Network includes commercial collaboration and an investment by Tracker Network in the new Cobra business unit dedicated to location based services.

The Location Based Services business unit, in line with the strategies already communicated by Cobra, will combine the LBS companies operating in Europe and Russia, and telematics infrastructure management and software development activities in Europe and South America.

Forming the new LBS business unit entity with Tracker's investment of €1,25 million for 10% of the company, Cobra will subsequently contribute the LBS activities and companies, and Tracker will have the right to increase its shareholding in the business unit to 20%.

The deal is subject to the approval of the South African Reserve Bank.

According to Cobra's CEO, Carmine Carella, the agreement with Tracker represents a fundamental step toward the creation of a global network of location based services operators using GSM/GPRS and GPS technologies dedicated to vehicle security, expanding the existing presence in Europe and Russia to operators located in high potential areas.

Collaborating with Tracker is expected to boost Cobra's sales in sub-Saharan Africa by around €3 - 4 million. For Tracker, the collaboration is an opportunity to manufacture aftermarket telematics devices through the Cobra manufacturing infrastructure and bring other Cobra products to the South African market.