Radius is continuing on the acquisition trail with a deal to buy app-based tracking and insurtech business Modus.

Radius CEO Bill Holmes (right) with the Modus senior management team

Based in Huntington Beach, California, Modus has been a pioneer in the wireless and vehicle telematics space and provides services to many of the world’s leading insurers and technology companies.

Brandon Johnson, Modus CEO, said: “Becoming a part of the Radius business will give Modus reach and access to customers on a global scale that we have never had before.  We are excited to contribute to the Radius product portfolio with some of the best telematics solutions in the industry. We are also confident that Radius Telematics’ wide range of solutions will have a huge impact on the North America market.”

Radius said its latest acquisition will open up some exciting new product opportunities for fleet tracking and insurance-linked tracking into commercial fleets.

Radius CEO Bill Holmes commented: “Brandon, Tim and the team at Modus have built a fantastic technology platform over the last 10 years and their app-only tracking solution is the best we have ever seen in terms of accuracy and ease of deployment. This move not only strengthens our North American tracking business but gives us some exciting new products to sell across our global footprint. In particular their insurance-linked app is an important part of the jigsaw in our plan to create a market-leading division that uses technology as a key differentiator in new products such as ‘pay-as-you-drive’.”

The deal with Modus comes just weeks after Radius acquired leading Stolen Vehicle Recovery (SVR) telematics business CanTrack Global as part of its ongoing expansion programme.

Speaking at the time, Bill Holmes said Radius was pushing ahead with plans to build a telematics product set “unparalleled in the global marketplace”.

Telematics is not the only focus for Radius though. The business was first established by Bill Holmes as a fuel card company in 1990 but now provides an array of products and services; alongside telematics and fuel, it also has telecoms, insurance and electric vehicle solutions divisions, selling to over 300,000 customers.

Other acquisitions in the last 18 months include Macclesfield-based business telecoms provider Reliance Network, commercial insurance broker The Burley Group and telematics firm Sure-Trak while Radius has also expanded its focus to large fleets under a deal with Key Telematics, as part of an ongoing programme of diversification.

Radius also took a share in ChargePoint Europe BV at the end of 2020 and has since launched a range of charge points for EVs under its new Radius EV division.