Transcan sold to family-run logistics group
Fleet management telematics specialist Transcan has been sold to family firm Seven Group for an undisclosed sum.
Transcan manufactures and services temperature control equipment for various cold chain logistics environments, including chilled food lorries, pharma logistics, cold rooms and livestock transportation.
Founded in Sussex in 1986 by engineers Richard Howells and David Doyle, Transcan grew from modest beginnings – posting £80,000 turnover in year three – to become a market leader in its niche by the millennium.
In 2003, Transcan was sold to business trio Mel Pye, Dave Thorley and Gareth Prosser – with the two founders staying on as 5% shareholders.
In 2006, the shareholders appointed Mark Sapsford to negotiate the sale of the business, ultimately to diversified logistics specialist Seven Group.
Group chairman Roy Dunnett was keen to merge Transcan with his own remote fleet monitoring system Seven Eye, and after Mark Sapsford steered the transaction to a successful completion, Transcan combined with Seven Eye to become Seven Telematics, with combined net profit of £1.3m a year.
Transcan’s long distance M&A journey
By 2019, private equity investor Lyceum Capital acquired Seven Telematics to bolt-on to its distressed portfolio company Connexas, and along with two other acquisitions, the successful consolidation and integration of fleet telematics brands – Isotrack, Verilocation, Alcolock and Seven Telematics – turned Connexas into the UK’s leading connected fleet and vehicle SaaS provider.
In 2020, Lyceum sold Connexas Group to Swedish PE-backed smart technology group Addsecure.
