Lyceum Capital has led the acquisition of vehicle tracking and fleet management software provider Isotrak from Saints Chamonix Private Equity to accelerate Isotrak’s UK and North American expansion strategies, and increase investment in the development of its cloud-based product suite.

Investing alongside the existing management team Lyceum has taken a majority share in the business, which recently won contracts with a number of leading retailers in North America to add to its blue chip UK customer base.

Established in 1999, Isotrak provides vehicle tracking and fleet management software to enable businesses that operate large fleets of heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and light commercial vehicles (LCVs) to reduce costs, improve operational efficiency, lessen their environmental impact and improve customer service. The company employs over 120 people across its UK office in Milton Keynes and a base in San Diego. The business is forecast to reach sales of approximately £30m for its financial year ending December 2013, which would represent a three-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30 per cent.

Isotrak tailors its modular, cloud-based software platform to meet the complex fleet management requirements of its customers, which include large blue chip retailers, leading third party logistics providers and other corporates. The business’s products, which are hardware agnostic, are delivered on a managed service basis and provide customers with real time visibility of the performance and location of their own fleets and those of their third party suppliers.

The company’s offering includes features that allow users to track vehicles to ensure their safety and security, provide proof of delivery, monitor driver behaviour to improve fleet performance, schedule vehicles effectively to reduce turnaround times and minimise empty running of vehicles and provide detailed analytics to improve supply chain efficiency.

Lyceum will work alongside Isotrak’s experienced management team, led by Executive Chairman Gavin Whichello and UK Managing Director Greville Coe, to further advance the business’s strong position in the UK through accelerated development of its advanced product suite, whilst targeting rapid organic growth in the North American complex fleet management segment (HGVs and LCVs in fleets of over 100 vehicles) — which is estimated to be worth £12.3bn.

Partner Daniel Adler and Investment Director Humphrey Baker led the deal for Lyceum and will join the board of Isotrak. Adler said: “Vehicle tracking and fleet management software is now viewed as business-critical by major fleet operators in addressing regulatory pressures, driving efficiency savings and reducing their impact on the environment. Isotrak has an industry-leading product offering which delivers a strong level of return on investment for its loyal customer base in the UK, where the company is a valued partner to large corporates and is embedded in their complex supply chains.

“Whilst further developing Isotrak’s leading UK market position through accelerated product development and organic expansion, we will work with the business’s experienced management team to replicate this success with operators in the large North American market, where there is a clear opportunity to build a fleet management software provider of scale through investing in people and developing new reseller and channel partnerships for the company’s flexible solutions.”

Gavin Whichello commented: “The UK vehicle tracking and fleet management software market is one of the most advanced in the world and its leading products are increasingly in demand overseas, particularly in North America, where routes are longer, sites are more disparate and the growth of home delivery is creating a greater need for fleet monitoring and compliance.

“Through recent contract wins we have already proven that there is real appetite for a flexible, tailored solution which meets the needs of the biggest fleet operators in the region, without expenditure on hardware. Lyceum’s strategic guidance and financial support will be critical in allowing us to further establish ourselves in this important marketplace, whilst continuing to invest in our innovative software products, to ensure we remain ahead of our global competitors and continue to deliver value to our customers.

“We will also work with our investment partner to accelerate our organic growth strategy in the UK, where we will target new vertical sectors and delivery categories, as well as further developing our core client segments.”