FREMONT, Calif.—@Road Inc. announced it has terminated a week-old agreement to purchase MobileAria Inc. due to difficulties surrounding MobileAria’s mobile resource management services contract with Verizon Services Corp., a division of Verizon Communications Inc.
@Road agreed to pay $11.4 million for MobileAria earlier this month after submitting the highest offer in an auction for the company’s assets. MobileAria is a unit of auto supplier Delphi Corp., which is undergoing a reorganization under bankruptcy protection.
The Verizon contract was a primary driver of the acquisition, said @Road. The company said it had been in negotiations with Verizon about problems with the contract and that the company filed a pleading with the bankruptcy court threatening to terminate the contract or materially reduce its scope. @Road said that action triggered an escape clause in its agreement with MobileAria.
@Road said it believes it is entitled to the return of $500,000 it deposited to secure the acquisition.
