Richmond's Digital Dispatch Systems Inc. (TSX:DD) has bought Finnish software company Mobisoft Oy for roughly $8 million.
Under the deal, which is expected to close September 30, Digital Dispatch will pay $4.3 million in cash and the remainder in Digital Dispatch shares.
The strategic deal will expand Digital Dispatch's foothold in the European market and add Mobisoft's products for school buses, airport shuttles and transit authorities to its offerings.
Over 2,000 taxis in Finland already use Mobisoft's software, which has a growing market in the U.K.
The acquisition will also expand Digital Dispatch's share in an increasing competitive and saturated market for taxi dispatch services. According to the Taxicab, Limousine and Paratransit Association, roughly 85% of taxi fleets have fewer than 50 vehicles.
Digital Dispatch's share price range during the past week: between $2.28 and $2.78; 52-week high: $4.10; 52-week low: $2.25.