Fleet management and asset tracking solution provider Rand McNally is planning to ramp up its technology roadmap and look for takeover targets following its acquisition on Friday by the California private equity firm Teleo Capital, the company said today.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but 164-year-old Rand McNally said it will continue to operate out of its Chicago headquarters, with warehousing in Kentucky and several global sourcing and development operations.
Following the acquisition, Teleo named one of its four operating partners—Joseph Roark—as chairman of Rand McNally and announced plans to invest in the company’s suite of products. "We are extremely excited to support the Rand McNally team through this next stage of growth," Roark said in a release. "We fully intend to help grow Rand McNally through organic and acquisitive investment. Our focus will be on breakthrough products and solutions and first-class customer service.”
Roark comes to the position from a career spanning 34 years in various executive leadership roles with companies such as Danaher Corp., Kohler Co., and Weir Group, according to Teleo. He has also led manufacturing and/or software development start-ups in the U.S., China, India, and Brazil.
Teleo says Rand McNally has expanded “aggressively” over the past 10 years in the commercial transportation and logistics software space, providing a fleet management solution and mileage & routing software to carriers, shippers, and third-party logistics providers (3PLs), complemented by a suite of driver technologies that integrate with its fleet management platform.
For example, in 2019, the company extended its long-haul telematics portfolio to serve local enterprise fleets as well, in response to demands for rising standards in customer service. That move extended its DriverConnect software platform to serve last-mile operations, offering fleet management features for deliveries, home repair services, utilities, and other sectors, the company said.
The news marks the second private equity deal in the transportation sector in a week, after The Jordan Co. agreed to sell a majority stake in the 3PL Capstone Logistics LLC to another investment firm, H.I.G. Capital. And earlier this month, the private equity firm Greenbriar Equity Group L.P. said it would invest $500 million in digital freight matching (DFM) player Uber Freight. The moves follow a pandemic-induced pause in the frantic pace of private equity moves in the logistics arena, as imports and domestic freight markets continue to rebound from the recession.
