Tele Altas demands higher TomTom offer

Digital map provider Tele Atlas wants TomTom to match Wednesday's takeover offer by Garmin.

Garmin and TomTom are the world largest and second largest developers of personal navigation devices. TomTom launched a €2bn bid in July to acquire Tele Atlas, but was outbid on 31 October by a €2.3bn offer from Garmin.

Contractually, Tele Atlas is allowed to cancel the July agreement if it receives a better offer, but only after allowing TomTom to match the offer.

If TomTom does match the offer, Tele Atlas intends to recommend its share holders to accept the bid over Garmin's.

TomTom did not respond to a request for comment. The Dutch firm has until 8 November to raise its offer.

TomTom and Garmin consider Tele Atlas a crucial asset. Tele Atlas is the world's second largest provider of digital maps after Navteq, which was acquired by Nokia in October for €5.4bn.

Maps from Navteq and Tele Atlas are used for personal navigation devices, and provide the data used by digital mapping services such as Google Maps, Live Search Maps, Yahoo Maps and MapQuest.

Garmin and TomTom have both stated that they will allow Tele Atlas to continue to operate as an independent entity.

Direct competitors, however, could potentially receive second-grade maps or have deliveries delayed to put them at a competitive disadvantage.