Ridango and Bregal Milestone acquire software firm uTrack

Mobility as a Service (MaaS) specialist Ridango and private equity firm Bregal Milestone are to buy uTrack Software Solutions.

Bregal took what it calls a "majority strategic growth investment" in Ridango in March, and Cyrus Shey, co-founder at Bregal, explains: “We identified uTrack as a compelling strategic fit for Ridango given their software platform, loyal and recurring customer base of market-leading institutions, and complementary geographic presence, which made it a natural fit for the Ridango ecosystem."

Founded in 2011, uTrack provides a public transport data platform with a real-time analysis and predictive engine that feeds a suite of software services.

It has Software as a Service products - Origin, Unity & Rygo – and customers include urban bus and school transport providers across Ireland, the UK and North America. 

The deal "unlocks meaningful synergies and accelerates growth across both platforms", Shey adds.

Ridango specialises in automated fare collection, real-time passenger information systems, automatic vehicle location tracking and MaaS technology. 

Following recent contract wins in Sweden, the company has made the Nordic country its European HQ.

It has R&D hubs in Estonia and Slovenia; and regional sales and marketing hubs in United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Ridango founder and CEO Erki Lipre called the acquisition a "strategic leap forward".

In a statement, uTrack co-founders Eamon Hughes and Conor Gildea said: "Partnering with Ridango allows us to accelerate that mission and scale our impact across Europe and North America while continuing to innovate with a shared vision for smarter, more sustainable transit.”

The terms of the uTrack transaction were not disclosed and are conditional upon the completion of the Ridango transaction.