Spire's ship tracking customers raise antitrust concerns over potential sale to Kpler

French maritime data analytics platform Kpler wants to buy ship tracking company Spire Maritime, whose satellite data is a vital resource for oil traders and shipping companies, but some Spire customers fear Kpler will cut them off and have raised antitrust concerns to US authorities, sources familiar with the matter say.

The $241 million deal announced on November 13 would give Kpler control over Spire's satellites and maritime automatic identification system (AIS) data stream, which tracks ships globally, particularly in the open ocean, with a refresh rate of every 15 minutes.

This capability is unmatched by competitors, including Orbcomm, which has seven to 10 satellites and takes about 36 hours to update.

Spire's technology allows it to track tens of thousands more ships than its competitors, making it an attractive information source for various customers including cargo trackers, the US Department of Defense and intelligence agencies.

The data is also used by commercial maritime companies and commodities and energy desks at Wall Street firms who use it to trade oil contracts.

Other customers include Maxar Intelligence, Polestar Global, Windward, Vortexa, MapLarge as well as shipping and cruise companies, the source said.

Veson Nautical, which lists Cargill and Trafigura among its customers, and ShipTracks, which serves Chevron, are among the analytics companies that use Spire data.

If the deal goes through Spire will still service existing contracts with the US government for maritime data.

However, the acquisition has raised concerns that software and analytics customers who rely on Spire's AIS data, and may compete in some applications with Kpler, could lose access to that data if the deal goes forward.

Kpler has been actively acquiring competitors to strengthen its marine traffic and fleet monitoring capabilities. There is a worry that this vertical integration could also impact pricing and stifle innovation, said the sources.

Kpler's acquisition spree has already raised eyebrows in the industry. In recent years, the company has bought up several competitors including UK-based maritime data provider MarineTraffic and Norwegian firm Nortek. These acquisitions have expanded Kpler's capabilities and market share but have also raised concerns about the company's growing dominance in the maritime data market.

Kpler's acquisition of MarineTraffic, which was previously a major competitor in the AIS data market, led to a loss of data access for some analytics companies that were outside Kpler's targeted customer base, the sources said.

(Reporting by Mike Stone in Washington and Jody Godoy in New York; Editing by Hugh Lawson)