After a last-minute bid to snatch GPS map info provider Tele Atlas (AMS:TA) from competitor TomTom (AMS:TOM2), Garmin (NASDAQ:GRMN) has dropped out of the bidding, according to Bloomberg. The company had jumped TomTom's friendly takeover offer of under $30 a share with a bid of $35.48. TomTom then responded with a jump to $43.44, or $4.2 billion, a 81% premium on the stock at that time.

This was apparently too rich for Garmin's blood. With Tele Atlas, a premier vendor of GPS map data, in its fold, look for TomTom to expand its family of GPS-specific devices as well as licensing the data for other technologies such as cell phones. Since TomTom was already a Tele Atlas customer, that portion of its expenses will now remain in-house, as well.

Tele Atlas is one of only two large providers of this data. The other, Navteq, was recently purchased for $8.1 billion by Nokia (NYSE:NOK). Garmin, a Navteq customer, just extended its contract with that company for another six years.

The deal would have made sense for either company, but the question is, at what cost? Perhaps the fact that both TomTom and Tele Atlas are based in Europe will help them streamline operations and thereby justify the expense. With the pace of evolution in this market, though, the time frame to leverage the purchase is not long.

A new front has opened up in the GPS wars as TomTom (AMS: TOM2) and Garmin (NASDAQ: GRMN) are vying to relocate GPS data provider Tele Atlas (AMS: TA) within their company holdings. In July, TomTom announced a friendly buyout of Tele Atlas for slightly less than $30 a share, at that time a 32% premium.

Last week, however, Garmin tossed its hat in the ring with a counter offer of $35.48. Tele Atlas gave TomTom five days to respond to the sweeter deal. TomTom has indeed responded with a revised offer of $43.44, or $4.2 billion, a whopping 81% premium on Tele Atlas' July stock price. The offer is even more noteworthy in light of Tele Atlas' lack of profitability. It is expected to lose another $7 million this year.

Tele Atlas is a provider of mapping information to TomTom, MapQuest and many other GPS systems, and is used in over 90% of U.S. 911 calls. The U.S. Dept. of Transportation uses Tele Atlas data, as do governments in many of the 64 nations for which it has compiled map data. Both Garmin and TomTom could benefit from integrating these geographic data products with their hardware business.

Tele Atlas shares continue to climb on the Amsterdam board, suggesting investors expect Garmin to respond to TomTom's latest offer.

Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) stock is sinking today as the company is reviewing its options regarding the acquisition of Dutch mapmaker Tele Atlas, according to a spokesman for Garmin. Garmin's main competitor TomTom NV (TOM2) raised its proposed offer for Tele Atlas to €30 a share earlier today, significantly trumping Garmin's previous offer of €24.50 per share. It is reasonable now to expect Garmin to come back with a higher offer, which is why the stock is down today. If you think this stock won't be rising too far in the coming months, then it could be a good time to look at a bearish hedged play on GRMN.

GRMN hit a one-year high of $125.68 in October and has been rising almost all year, with its one-year low of 45.75 last November. This morning, GRMN opened at $96.14. So far today the stock has hit a low of $93.49 and a high of $96.68. As of 11:00, GRMN is trading at $93.15, down $7.41 (-7.3%). The chart for GRMN looks bearish and steady, while S&P gives the stock a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy rating.

For a bearish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a December bear-call credit spread above the $130 range. A bear-call credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of call options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. This particular trade will make a 5.3% return in 7 weeks as long as GRMN is below $130 at December expiration. Garmin would have to rise by more than 38% before we would start to lose money.

While sexy companies like Garmin Ltd. (NASDAQ: GRMN) and TomTom (AMS: TOM2) sell technology that makes finding your location on a map as easy as pushing a button, the foundation of the business is in the maps themselves. In 2006, over half of all internet map searches referenced the products of just one company, TeleAtlas (AMS: TA).

Now, Amsterdam-based TomTom has announced plans for a friendly buyout of TeleAtlas for just under $30 per share, a 32% premium over market value. This is quite a bold vote of confidence by TomTom, since TeleAtlas consistently loses money, including an expected $7 million this year. The total cost of the purchase will be in excess of $2.5 billion.

TeleAtlas is a provider of mapping information to TomTom, MapQuest, and many other GPS systems, and is used in over 90% of U.S. 911 calls. The U.S. Dept. of Transportation uses TeleAtlas data, as do governments in many of the 64 nations for which they have compiled map data. TomTom is the world leader in portable GPS devices, with 52% of the European market and 25% of the U.S.'s.

The acquisition will allow TomTom to vertically integrate its product offerings and give it access to a much more diverse book of business. I expect the company to leverage their technology to offer seamless hardware/data products to the many customers already enjoying TeleAtlas's mapping services. Given the price paid, however, the sales pace had better be brisk, or TomTom will need more than a GPS unit to find its bottom line.