GPS World

Tag: acquisition

  • GeoEye Proposes Acquisition Of DigitalGlobe

    GeoEye, Inc. announced that it is proposing to acquire DigitalGlobe, Inc. The combined company would create the world’s largest fleet of high resolution commercial imagery satellites.

     

    The new company would be well-positioned to meet the evolving needs of the U.S. government and other customers in this fiscally constrained environment. We will also continue to invest in new information, analytic services and the most technologically advanced commercial satellites for government and commercial customers around the world.

    Matt O’Connell, chief executive officer and president of GeoEye, said, “This proposal delivers exceptional value for the combatant commanders, national decision makers, civil users and disaster relief workers, who have a critical need for unclassified commercial imagery. It also provides benefits for the taxpayer. It offers our Government a way to get the information it needs while still reducing its funding obligations. The synergies in the combination will also benefit the shareholders of both companies.”

    O’Connell continued, “In the face of significant pressure on the U.S. defense budget and intensifying international competition, a combined company will be better positioned to provide the U.S. government with the time-sensitive geospatial intelligence that is needed to support its mission in a very cost-effective manner during these fiscally conservative times. The government is looking to its providers for innovative solutions, and we believe this is the best option to achieve that.”

    The proposed transaction would give DigitalGlobe shareholders $17.00 per share in total consideration, payable $8.50 per share in cash and $8.50 in GeoEye stock, or 0.3537 shares of GeoEye stock for each share of DigitalGlobe stock. This price represents a 26% premium to DigitalGlobe’s closing share price on May 3, 2012. The proposal is structured to provide DigitalGlobe shareholders with the opportunity to participate in the dynamic future growth of the combined company.

     

    The following is a copy of a letter that GeoEye sent to DigitalGlobe with respect to its proposal:

    May 4, 2012

    Jeffrey R. Tarr
    President and Chief Executive Officer
    DigitalGlobe, Inc.
    1601 Dry Creek Drive, Ste. 260
    Longmont, CO 80503

    Dear Jeff:

    During the past few months, we have discussed with you a combination of GeoEye and DigitalGlobe. We both appreciate that a combination of our two companies results in greater capability to meet national security needs, is more cost effective to the government during this fiscally constrained period, and provides improved value to decision-makers and warfighters.

    The considerable scale of the combined entity creates a strong domestic player in satellite imagery which could compete more effectively with foreign providers. The combination also allows for operating expense synergies and reduced capital requirements while better satisfying customer needs. Your letter from March 2, 2012 conveys this same sentiment:

    “…we do agree that a well-managed combined company would enjoy material scale and scope benefits in addition to significant cost savings and would be well positioned to meet the needs of the US Government and other customers.”

    We both acknowledge that there have been rumors and speculation regarding cuts. Given this uncertain political and fiscal climate, we believe it is in our mutual interest to provide our customers with creative solutions to problems rather than passively speculate on one or another outcome.

    To that end, we propose that GeoEye acquire DigitalGlobe in a friendly transaction whereby DigitalGlobe shareholders would receive $17.00 per share in total consideration. Such consideration will be payable as $8.50 per share in cash and $8.50 in GeoEye stock (DigitalGlobe shareholders would receive 0.3537 shares of GeoEye stock for each share of DigitalGlobe owned). This price represents a 26% premium to DigitalGlobe’s closing share price on May 3, 2012. In addition, our Board of Directors would consider restructuring our proposal to increase the cash consideration up to 100% of the purchase price or, in the alternative, reducing the cash consideration and increasing the stock portion of our offer.

    Given our financial strength and longstanding supportive banking relationships, we are highly confident that financing will not represent an impediment to the consummation of the proposed transaction. To provide further certainty to the DigitalGlobe Board of Directors, we have been advised that affiliates of Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., our largest shareholder, are prepared to contribute substantial capital in support of our proposed transaction.

    We believe that your shareholders and your Board will agree that this is a compelling proposal.

    Our Board has authorized this proposal. We are prepared to move quickly to execute a mutually acceptable definitive agreement. Our offer is subject to satisfactory due diligence, the receipt of U.S. Government approvals, and final Board and shareholder approvals.

    We have already undertaken extensive due diligence on DigitalGlobe’s public filings and are now prepared to undertake a mutual detailed due diligence review at your earliest convenience. We believe that with your cooperation, we can complete this detailed due diligence and execute a definitive agreement promptly.

    Finally, it is our view that a combination of our companies would have no significant contingencies and that this transaction will be promptly consummated. Our counsel, with the assistance of a highly regarded economist, has undertaken a preliminary review of antitrust and international competition issues attendant to the proposed combination, and believe that, with U.S. Government customer support, the transaction will not involve undue delay. We understand from your communications to us that you and your advisors agree.

    We have engaged Goldman, Sachs & Company, Convergence Advisors LLC and Latham & Watkins LLP to advise us in this transaction.

    We look forward to a response to this letter and sincerely hope that we may move forward to a negotiated transaction.

    Sincerely,

    Matthew M. O’Connell
    CC: DigitalGlobe Board of Directors

  • u-blox Acquires 4M Wireless for LTE Technology

    u-blox, fabless provider of positioning and wireless semiconductors, software and solutions, will acquire 4M Wireless, a company that designs and develops software and test solutions for developing fourth-generation (4G) mobile wireless devices based on the latest Long Term Evolution (LTE) standards.

    The acquisition will give u-blox ownership of advanced protocol stacks that are licensed to chipset vendors whose products enable 4G user equipment for applications with needs for high-speed data connectivity such as smartphones, tablet computers, notebooks, and any other high-speed wireless modems, u-blox said. Also a variant of the products is licensed to manufacturers of 4G test equipment. 4M Wireless was founded in 2006 and has headquarters in the UK and operations in Lahore, Pakistan.

    Key terms of the transaction include acquisition of 100% of the shares of 4M Wireless at a price of approximately $9 million US, depending on earn-out; intellectual property and software in the area of LTE wireless technology; and integration of the 4M Wireless business and employees into u-blox’ organization.

    LTE is a unifying technology for almost all mobile operators around the world. All GSM/UMTS operators as well as most CDMA operators have agreed to evolve to LTE. Currently, there are 35 commercially available LTE networks in more than 20 countries, and 48 manufacturers have already announced 197 different LTE end-devices. 300 Million LTE subscribers are expected by 2015.

    The acquisition is subject to customary closing conditions and pending regulatory approval. Closing is expected by September 2012.

  • Telogis Acquires Maptuit Assets

    Telogis, Inc. announces the acquisition of the assets of Maptuit, a leading provider of connected navigation for commercial fleets. This acquisition — the company’s fifth in three years — expands Telogis’ services as the market increases adoption of location-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions. Maptuit’s commercial navigation technologies further enhance the Telogis enterprise platform of SaaS solutions, which includes fleet management, navigation, multi-vehicle route optimization and planning, work order management and mobile integration.

     

    “This acquisition adds a new dimension to our platform,” said Newth Morris, president, Telogis Route and Telogis Mobile. “With these advances, Telogis further differentiates itself in the market by providing the most comprehensive suite of location intelligence solutions on a single platform.”   

    According to the announcement, the enhancements to the Telogis platform resulting from this acquisition include an advanced location-based service (LBS) engine that receives feedback from the field on road conditions and physical restrictions that may not be captured by commercial and open source map data. These capabilities are critical not only to the commercial navigation markets where Maptuit has been successful, but also to industries such as mining, and oil and gas, which operate in remote regions where map data coverage is limited.

    Maptuit’s technologies also allow companies to specify “known-good” routes and yard-approaches. These capabilities help companies improve the safety of route operations and are increasingly important in international markets where bonded routes exist.

    Telogis reports it will integrate Maptuit’s technologies directly into its enterprise platform, thereby expanding the Telogis customer base by more than 100,000 subscribers.

    “The commercial navigation technologies that Maptuit has revolutionized will enhance all of the applications on our platform — route planning, navigation, execution analytics — and position our company to best handle the growing location intelligence needs of companies worldwide,” said Morris. “This acquisition complements the Telogis platform with a unique set of high-value capabilities that allow companies to dramatically transform their operations, improve safety and lower operating costs.”

  • Green Dot to Acquire Loopt

    Green Dot Corporation, a provider of banking and payment solutions, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Loopt, a social location-based service that connects people.

    Green Dot indicated that the acquisition will provide a number of key strategic benefits that are expected to improve customer acquisition and retention of its current prepaid debit card products, drive the adoption of new banking and payment products targeted to new segments of consumers, and provide the opportunity for Green Dot to become a leader in mobile wallets, rewards and payment solutions at retailers nationwide, the company said.

    Furthermore, Loopt holds several patents that are applicable to mobile marketing in the context of location-based messaging delivered real-time to a mobile handset. Green Dot believes that these patents will be important strategic assets as it pursues its mobile business opportunities.

    “We believe that mobile phones have the potential to change the way people interact with their bank, control their money and pay for goods and services,” said Steve Streit, Chairman and CEO of Green Dot. “Loopt has innovative mobile technology, market leading mobile programming capabilities and compelling intellectual property. Meanwhile, Green Dot has a large customer base, a robust enterprise-level financial services infrastructure and retail point-of-sale financial transaction capabilities deployed at major retailers nationwide. When Loopt’s assets are layered into Green Dot’s platform, we believe that a significant opportunity emerges for Green Dot to become a large-scale player in mobile technology solutions at the retail point of sale.”

    Loopt co-founder and CEO Sam Altman stated, “It’s been exhilarating to see mobile become such a critical part of our collective daily lives. As this technology truly reaches the masses, I believe we’re going to see the banking and payments industry fundamentally reshaped in a way that’s better for everyone. My team and I look forward to being part of this transformation and are eager to bring cutting edge mobile banking and payment solutions to Green Dot’s retail partners and Green Dot’s millions of current and future customers.”

    Upon closing of the transaction, Loopt’s current headquarters in Mountain View, California, will become the new Silicon Valley hub for Green Dot’s mobile technology and product development team.

    Green Dot will pay total consideration of $43.4 million in cash for the company, which includes approximately $9.8 million to be set aside as a retention pool for key Loopt employees. Green Dot expects this transaction will result in approximately $14 million of incremental operating expenses during the remainder of this year which will reduce the Company’s previously guided 2012 full year adjusted EBITDA accordingly. This amount includes the above mentioned retention payments, ongoing salaries and benefits for retained Loopt employees, wind-down expenses of current Loopt services and other expenses associated with the costs of integrating Loopt’s technology into Green Dot’s operating infrastructure.

  • Is Google’s Acquisition of Motorola Mobility an Attempt to Control Location Biz?

    Google is at it again. This time Motorola Mobility is on the buying block. What does this mean to the location-based services market? Another potential location platform market closed off? Some industry experts believe this is the case. In addition, Iridium and TeleNav are making LBS news with recent product launches and acquisitions.

     

    The recent $12.5-billion Google acquisition of Motorola Mobility has some industry experts saying that the location market piece of pie is getting smaller every time the search giant makes a deal.

    “I think with Google controlling both the hardware and software stack of the Android ecosystem it will be hard for any technology company to work with Motorola. They want to own the whole shooting match for themselves,” said Ted Morgan, Skyhook Wireless CEO.

    Boston-based Skyhook is suing Google for allegedly using tactics to block Motorola Mobility and Samsung from contracts that use the company Wi-Fi-based tracking system in Android smartphones.

    Many industry experts have said that the main makers of Google Android smartphones should feel challenged as well as the company has seemingly gone into business against them.

    Google has made many moves into the location business in the last two years. It is trying to grab a large share of the European traffic market by offering real-time services in 13 European companies. Google shook up the navigation market with free navigation service for Android phones in 2009. Last month, LBS Insider detailed Google’s purchase of The Dealmap, which offers a location-based daily deal service.

    Google’s acquisition of Motorola is another step in a development strategy that appears to be aimed at increasing the company’s ability to compete across multiple markets that are served by mobile computing, said Mike Dobson, Telemapics president, author of Exploring Local. “[This is] supplemented by the company’s ability to supply its customers proprietary content that can provide a unique and informed world view whether those customers are at home or on the road exploring new geographies,” he said.

    Dobson says that Google clearly wants to compete on a level playing field with Apple and appears to feel that the only way they can do so is to acquire one of the premier manufacturers of mobile phones. “While Google had hoped to control the mobile market by developing Android, doing so has not allowed them the gather the strategic control of phone design, pricing, positioning, placement, or distribution,” he said. “Conversely, Apple has been able to bring mobile phones to the marketplace whose features, functionality, and looks have generated a design revolution that has enchanted consumers in a manner dissimilar to anything we have ever seen in the mobile marketplace.”

    Although Motorola’s brand has been tarnished in recent years, it is clearly the case that they are an extraordinarily talented developer of popular mobile devices that continue to stretch to boundaries of the capabilities of the cell phone world, said Dobson, who believes that this is evidenced by the fervor of anticipation surround the current release of the dual-core, 4G LTE compatible Motorola Droid Bionic.

    Motorola’s design team, however, does not appear to understand the consumer mobile phone market with the same ability to interleave design and hardware functionality that is the hallmark of all Apple products, including the iPhone. “Nor do I believe that Google has the capabilities, as of this time, at least, to remedy this situation,” he said.

    Dobson said that Google’s proposed acquisition of Motorola, coupled with those like its acquisition of Zagat’s and proposed acquisition of ITA Software, an airline ticketing company, seems to indicate that Google is interested not only in providing the platform and OS, but also the common content that might be of interest to users of their mobile devices. “When Google’s control of key content is wrapped within the control of the delivery platform and nested within the Internet’s most successful advertising delivery platform, AdSense/AdWord, it would appear that Google will have advantages in the mobile world far superior to any company that currently exists,” he said.

    Now that the U.S. government has blocked AT&T’s acquisition of T-Mobile, all eyes are on Google’s newest purchase. Dobson has said that while it is impossible to estimate the size and data usage total that can be attributed to location services, there is little reason to assume that it does not mirror the growing trend in data growth.

    At the time the AT&T/T-Mobile deal was announced, Dobson told LBS Insider that if AT&T can advantage itself by easing its spectrum crunch through the acquisition, it could result in the company being more interested in navigation and LBS than in the past.

    Iridium Making LBS Foray

    As GPS World reported, McLean, Va.-based Iridium Communications announced that its Iridium Force strategy will include LBS and M2M to grow its personal mobile satellite capabilities beyond satellite phones. The new capability enables communication with Wi-Fi-enabled devices such as smartphones, tablets, and laptops. The Iridium Extreme, which is the company’s smallest, will be connected to online portals with GPS and LBS capabilities.

    The company also says that Iridum Tracking Portals allow customers to access location monitoring that show real-time status and location, scheduling regular check-ins, geo-fencing, and other features.

    In a July interview with LBS Insider, Patrick Shay, Iridium vice president and general manager for data services, said that the machine-to-machine market constitutes the company’s fastest growing segment. The company said it reached 500,000 total billable subscribers for its satellite voice and data services worldwide. The breakdown of subscribers includes 90 percent commercial customers and 10 percent U.S. government customers.

    TeleNav Buys LBS Firm Goby

    In a smaller acquisition, of which financial details were not disclosed, TeleNav purchased Boston-based Goby, a local and travel search startup that focuses on mobile applications — and will look at advertising revenue models.

    TeleNav has been tight-lipped about the acquisition, only saying that they are impressed with the small company and its personnel and technology. Published reports indicate that the company, and 10 employees, are staying in Boston.

  • Trimble Enters into Definitive Agreement to Acquire OmniSTAR Assets for Land Applications

    Trimble today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire certain assets related to the OmniSTAR GNSS signal corrections business from Fugro N.V. The acquisition is expected to significantly expand Trimble’s worldwide ability to provide corrections services for land based agriculture, construction, mapping, and geographic information system (GIS) and survey applications.

    Trimble and Fugro also entered into a multi-year service agreement which includes Fugro’s ongoing operation of its correction network and satellite service broadcast systems that power the OmniSTAR service. Fugro’s offshore marine business is unaffected. Closing of the transaction, anticipated in the first quarter, is subject to certain closing conditions. Financial terms were not disclosed.

    OmniSTAR provides space-based GNSS correction services that can improve the accuracy of a GNSS receiver for precise positioning applications. These are the four levels of OmniSTAR service:

    • VBS offers sub-meter positioning.
    • XP service delivers better than 20-centimeter accuracy.
    • HP service delivers greater than 10-centimeter accuracy.
    • The new OmniSTAR G2 service combines GPS-plus-GLONASS-based corrections to provide decimeter level positioning.

    Trimble pioneered RTK technology in the early 1990s, which enabled high-accuracy corrections for field applications. RTK is now recognized as the industry leading technology for centimeter-level positioning. To further improve accuracy, Trimble subsequently introduced VRS technology in 2000 and shortly after that Trimble VRS Now Service.

    “With the addition of the OmniSTAR services and our strong relationship with Fugro, we will offer a full range of high-precision positioning capabilities which now includes satellite-delivered corrections,” said Patricia Boothe, general manager of Trimble’s newly-formed Positioning Services Division. “Today, our agriculture customers use OmniSTAR services to perform planting, harvesting, variable rate application and many other operations. Our expanded portfolio will provide not only farmers, but also surveying, construction, and GIS professionals with more options to satisfy their particular accuracy, delivery, and financial needs.”

    “Trimble and OmniSTAR have enjoyed a long standing relationship,” said John Waits, president of OmniSTAR. “The transfer of land-based GNSS signal corrections assets marks the next phase of our efforts to bring a broader range of positioning services to our combined customer base, on land and offshore. The OmniSTAR and Fugro teams remain committed to providing industry leading corrections services for customers who own a variety of GNSS receivers.”

    The OmniSTAR business will be reported as part of Trimble’s Engineering and Construction segment.

  • CSR Completes SiRF Acquisition

    England’s CSR plc and U.S.-based SiRF Technology Holdings, Inc., have completed their merger, ending years of speculation over what may become of SiRF, a pioneering maker of GPS receivers that had become financially troubled during the current economic downturn.

    “In bringing together the combined capabilities and broad range of CSR and SiRF technologies and platforms, we have created a new force in the industry and a world class organization with the commercial, technical and operational scale to build on CSR and SiRF’s existing customer relationships and deliver the next generation of connectivity and location enabled products,” said Joep van Beurden, CSR CEO. “Our strategic goal is to address the existing and emerging needs of our combined customer base for connectivity and location technologies. The potential applications and benefits to the end user of connectivity plus location are only just starting to open up, and these exciting new opportunities will be driven by our unique combination of leading location technologies and connectivity solutions.”

    SiRF co-founder Kanwar Chadha echoed those sentiments. “CSR and SiRF have a shared vision of using innovation to bring the benefits of wireless connectivity and location to mainstream consumers and enterprises and to enable new and exciting user experiences,” said Chadha, now a CSR board member and chief marketing officer. “We believe that through this merger, our customers and consumers will derive benefits from a much stronger player whose focus is on delivering best in class connectivity and location platforms.”

    For CSR’s customers, the merger with SiRF means CSR’s Connectivity Centre products are augmented by GPS technologies, including assisted GPS (A-GPS), dead reckoning, and location centric platforms, the companies said. Meanwhile, SiRF’s customers will see enhancements to SiRF’s location platforms with CSR’s Connectivity Centre capabilities.

    The enlarged CSR group will have its global headquarters in Cambridge, United Kingdom, with SiRF’s headquarters remaining in San Jose, California, which will also serve as CSR’s U.S. headquarters. The combined CSR group is now among the top 10 fabless semiconductor companies, with a combined customer list including six of the top seven handset manufacturers, the top five personal navigation device makers, the top two automotive telematics suppliers, and other auto and consumer electronics providers, CSR said.

  • The Business: SiRF, CSR to Merge; Kanwar Chadha’s Perspective

    » MASS MARKET OEM

    SiRF, CSR to Merge; Kanwar Chadha’s Perspective

    SiRF Technology Holdings, Inc., of San Jose, California, and CSR plc, formerly Cambridge Silicon Radio, headquartered in Cambridge, United Kingdom, will merge in a stock-for-stock transaction to create a new company, which will automatically assume a competitive, leading position in global connectivity and location markets. The companies expect the transaction to close in the second quarter of 2009.

    “Financially, strategically, and commercially, this is a compelling transaction,” said Joep van Beurden, CEO of CSR — and analysts would almost universally agree. SiRF has been under the financial microscope since troubles surfaced in Q1 2008, and speculation about an acquisition had been rife.

    Further, SiRF has been locked in a patent battle with Broadcom, the latter involved through its July 2007 acquisition of Global Locate.

    CSR has made its mark in the Bluetooth connectivity sector, combining multiple connectivity technologies, while SiRF has long pioneered GPS location with multifunction system-on-chip (SoC) location platforms for consumer handhelds and cell phones. In January 2007, CSR purchased GNSS software receiver innovator NordNav.

    Chadha Says. “From a strategy viewpoint,” SiRF founder and vice president of marketing Kanwar Chadha told GPS World, “multi-function radios is something we have been talking about for two years. Market opportunities became much larger in the last six months, with Nokia driving loction into every mobile phone.

    “When you see a market opportunity in front of you, it’s better to combine best-of-class than to build a solution from scratch.

    “We have a strong customer base in automotive and PNDs, while we are expanding into wireless. CSR is compelementary: strong now in wireless, and so on.

    “In easy times, you can build your own solution. In tough times, trying to build an additional platform of technology, if we start from scratch, that may take four to five years to prove out; that’s very difficult. Both of us tried to do that, by the way. They need GPS, we need Bluetooth.

    “Now, our multimode AGPS with their EGPS, and the economies of scale enjoyed by a now close to a billion-dollar company, we feel very good about that. Bluetooth in hands-free mobile phones, that has a 50 percent penetration in handsets. It is much deeper than GPS today, although GPS is catching up.

    “Their [CSR’s] world is very mobile-phone centric. We are more location-platform centric, more diverse in our view. It will be very interesting. GPS-Bluetooth-FM: for our customers, the handset vendors, this is their most requested combination. There are two ways to integrate these function: integrate GPS with a modem, as Qualcomm does, or integrate it into  what CSR calls a connectivity center, of short-range wireless technologies.”

    Lines Drawn. A significant market battle continues between the big four in the mass market OEM GPS chip sector: Broadcom, Qualcomm, CSR, and TI, formerly Texas Instruments — with Sony and Panasonic quietly going about their own business, making GPS chips for brand devices, but in a position to supply others, if they are not doing so already. The new ST-NXP Wireless joint venture with Ericsson (see story page 18) will also play in that arena.

    Chadha does not expect to see competition from manufacturers in Taiwan and China, at least not immediately. “These are complex radio technologies, not simple digital technologies.”

    Brand. “The SiRF brand won’t go away, it’s very strong,” he concluded. “We’ll continue to build on it. the location platform will be our recognizable art of the new company , and of course we’ll continue applying our expertise there.”

    On a pro forma basis, the two companies combined would have had 2008 sales of approximately $927 million. The combination will create the single largest pure-play provider of integrated connectivity and location platforms and will be one of the top 10 fabless semiconductor companies in the world, according to a joint statement. Customers include four of the top five handset makers, the top five PND makers, the top two auto-telematics suppliers, and other leading electronics providers. CSR and SiRF will have design and customer-support centers around the world.

    On closing of the transaction, SiRF stockholders are expected to own 27% and CSR shareholders are expected to own 73% of the combined company. CSR’s board will add SiRF interim CEO Dado Banatao and Chadha. The combined company, with CSR’s Van Beurden as CEO, will be based in Cambridge, and San Jose will serve as U.S. headquarters.

    » TELECOMMUNICATIONS

    Ericsson and STMicro Complete Mobile Merger

    STMicroelectronics and Ericsson have closed their agreement merging Ericsson Mobile Platforms and ST-NXP Wireless into a 50/50 joint venture. The deal was completed on the terms originally announced on August 20, 2008.

    The new company is designed for long-term stability and to become an industry leader in product research, as well as design, development, and the creation of mobile platforms and wireless semiconductors. The joint venture begins as a major supplier to four of the industry’s top five handset manufacturers, who together represent about 80 percent of global handset shipments, as well as to other industry leaders.

    Ericsson contributed $1.1 billion net to the joint venture, out of which $0.7 billion was paid  to STMicro. Before the closing of the transaction, STMicro exercised its option to buy out NXP’s 20 percent ownership stake of ST-NXP Wireless.

    Alain Dutheil, CEO of ST-NXP Wireless and chief operating officer of STMicroelectronics, will lead the joint venture as president and chief executive officer.Employing about 8,000 people — roughly 3,000 from Ericsson and 5,000 from STMicro — the new wireless technologies company is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.

    » MILITARY & GOVERNMENT

    Honeywell T-Hawk Micro Vehicle Heads for U.K.

    Honeywell received an order for six T-Hawk micro air vehicle (MAV) systems from the U.S. Navy, the contracting agency for the U.K. Ministry of Defence (MOD) for the T-Hawk MAV system procurement, in a contract valued at USD $5.7 million.

    The new U.K. order comes in addition to the Navy’s existing T-Hawk contract with Honeywell, announced in November 2008, for 90 systems. The T-Hawk MAV will be used by joint force EOD (Explosive Ordinance Device) units in Iraq and Afghanistan, among other locations.

    The circular vehicle, weighing 17 pounds and 14 inches in diameter, can fly down to inspect hazardous areas for threats without exposing warfighters to enemy fire. The T-Hawk MAV can take off and land vertically and fly more than 40 minutes, at more than 40 knots of airspeed, operating at altitudes of more than 10,000 feet.

    An eye-in-the-sky for battlefield surveillance, the Honeywell MAV carries video cameras to relay real-time data and a GPS device. It identifies improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and can inspect suspected bomb sites in areas inaccessible by ground robots.

    » MASS MARKET OEM

    Epson, Infineon Develop Tiny Single-Chip Receiver

    Seiko Epson Corporation of Tokyo, Japan, and Infineon Technologies AG of Neubiberg, Germany, have developed a GPS single-chip design, the XPOSYS, which is optimized for mobile devices for the consumer market — especially cellular phones with navigation features.

    Compared to existing solutions in the market, the XPOSYS, which is manufactured in a 65-nanometer process technology, provides increased performance and new levels of user experience, the companies said.

    Sensitivity has been increased from -160 dBm to -165 dBm, allowing for pinpoint positional accuracy when indoors or in urban canyons. Power consumption has been reduced by 50 percent, increasing the battery life of products in which it is included. The footprint has been reduced to 2.8 x 2.9 millimeters, which the companies claim is 25 percent less than the smallest GPS chip available elsewhere.

    u-blox Launches Cards for Mobile Computers

    A GPS PCI Express Mini card from u-blox (Thalwil, Switzerland) enables next-generation laptop, netbook, mobile internet device and Ultra Mobile PC OEMs to provide GPS and location-based services (LBS) such as personal navigation, services and people finders, and geo-tagging.

    “With the explosive potential of next-generation GPS applications and services for mobile PCs, it is the right time to introduce a robust PCI Express mini card supporting location-based services,” said Thomas Nigg, Vice President Product Marketing at u-blox.Sales of mobile PCs with integrated GPS are projected to grow from 3 million units in 2007 to 45 million units in 2011, according to u-blox.

    Qualcomm Launches Chipset for Low-Cost Smartphones

    Qualcomm, Inc., has launched the Mobile Station Modem MSM7227 chipset designed to enable high-performance, sub-$150 smartphones. The MSM7227 chipset features integrated Bluetooth 2.1 and GPS, a 600-MHz applications processor with a floating point unit, 320-MHz application DSP, 400-MHz modem processor, hardware-accelerated 3D graphics, 8-megapixel camera, and 30-fps WVGA video encode and decode and display support.

    The MSM7227 chipset is designed to provide advanced processing and multimedia while using HSDPA/HSUPA for broadband data speeds over 3G networks. It also can support all leading mobile operating systems including Android, Symbian S60, Windows Mobile and BREW Mobile Platform, according to the company.

    The MSM7227 chipset has a 12 x 12 millimeter footprint and lower power consumption than previous MSM7xxx-series chips. It is sampling now, and commercial smartphones based on the chip are expected to launch later this year.

    Broadcom Combos GPS, Bluetooth, and FM Radio System-on-Chip

    Broadcom Corporation of Irvine, California, has released BCM2075, a new, integrated GPS, Bluetooth, and FM radio in a single-chip design, targeting location-based services (LBS) applications. The processor reduces the host and application processing required by competing combo solutions, enabling greater adoption in mass market handsets, according to the company.

    The BCM2075 integrates four radios (Bluetooth, GPS, FM receive, and FM transmit), enabling the radios to operate simultaneously and with minimal interference.

    The company expects the chip to drive key handset applications that network operators and consumers are looking to adopt, furthering the cause of LBS and advanced multimedia available on mid-range mobile phones. The GPS core uses a host-based integration architecture that splits the processing duties between the BCM2075 and the host CPU system and provides low GPS power, delivering a reported 50 percent better power performance compared to other chips, the company said. Broadcom’s GPS technology, stemming largely from its July 2007 purchase of Global Locate, enables a fast time-to-first-fix and provides integrated support for other positioning technologies, such as Wi-Fi positioning.

     

     

  • SiRF and CSR to Merge

    SiRF Technology Holdings, Inc., based in San Jose, California, and CSR plc, formerly Cambridge Silicon Radio, headquartered in Cambridge, UK, will merge in a stock-for-stock transaction to create a new company, which will automatically assume a competitive/leading position in global connectivity and location markets. The companies expect the transaction to close in the second quarter of 2009.

    “Financially, strategically and commercially, this is a compelling transaction,” stated Joep van Beurden, CEO of CSR — and analysts would almost universally agree. SiRF has been under the financial microscope since troubles surfaced in Q1 2008, and speculation about an acquisition had been rife.

    Further, SiRF has been locked in a patent battle with Broadcom, the latter involved through its July 2007 acquisition of Global Locate.

    CSR has made its mark in the Bluetooth connectivity sector, combining multiple connectivity technologies, while SiRF has long pioneered GPS location with multifunction system-on-chip (SoC) location platforms for consumer handhelds and cell phones. In January 2007, CSR purchased GNSS software receiver innovator NordNav.

    For the moment, Qualcomm CDMA sits on the sidelines, but a significant and long-going market battle continues between (now) the big three in the mass market OEM GPS chip sector: Broadcom, Qualcomm, CSR — with Sony and Panasonic also quietly going about their business, primarily making GPS chips for their own brand devices, but certainly in a position to supply others, if they are not doing so already.

    Based on CSR’s and SiRF’s results for fiscal year 2008, on a pro forma basis, the combined companies would have had sales of approximately $927 million. The combination will create the single largest pure play provider of integrated connectivity and location platforms and will be one of the top 10 fabless semiconductor companies in the world, according to a joint statement by the two. Customers of the combined company include four of the top five handset manufacturers, the top five personal navigation device makers, the top two auto-telematics suppliers, and other leading auto and consumer electronics providers. CSR and SiRF will have design and customer support centers around the world.

    Under the terms of the agreement, SiRF stockholders will receive 0.741 of a CSR share for each share of SiRF common stock they own. Based on the closing stock price for CSR on February 9, this consideration would be equivalent to $2.06 of CSR stock for each SiRF share, representing total consideration of $136 million. This represents a premium to SiRF stockholders of approximately 91% over SiRF’s closing stock price on February 9. On closing of the transaction, SiRF stockholders are expected to own approximately 27% and CSR shareholders are expected to own approximately 73% of the combined company. The transaction is expected to be tax-free for SiRF stockholders.

    SiRF, listed on the NASDAQ exchange, generated revenues of $232 million in 2008, and had gross assets of $195 million as of December 27, 2008.

    CSR is listed on the London Stock Exchange. CSR’s customers include industry leaders such as Audi, Ford, LG, Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Panasonic, RIM, Samsung, Sharp, Sony, TomTo,m and Toshiba. CSR has its headquarters and offices in Cambridge, UK, and offices in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, China, India, France, Denmark, Sweden, and both Dallas and Detroit in the USA.

    According to the companies, the transaction proffers the following benefits to both the companies themselves and their stockholders:

    Combined Product Roadmap for Next-Generation Chips. The combined company will have significant R&D resources to deliver a broader portfolio of location and connectivity solutions to customers. R&D efforts will continue to support each company’s existing product lines and will also be focused on the delivery of additional multifunction radio chips, which combine CSR’s Bluetooth and other connectivity capabilities with SiRF’s GPS and GNSS technologies.

    Growing Market Opportunities and Revenue Synergies. The combined company will benefit from significantly increased scale to meet the demand for both connectivity and location services in a broad range of products spanning mobile phones, automobiles, personal computers, mobile Internet devices, digital cameras, mobile gaming, and other consumer electronics products. The companies expect to achieve significant additional revenue synergies beginning in 2010 and beyond through a combination of cross-selling opportunities, deeper penetration of existing customers, new product offerings combining complementary technologies, and access to new markets.

    Financial Synergies. The companies expect that annual cost synergies of at least $35 million in savings from gross margin improvements and reduced R&D, sales and marketing, and overhead costs can be achieved through steps that can be implemented within 60 days post completion of this transaction.

    Financial Strength and Flexibility. The combined company is expected to have a strong balance sheet and cash position. At the end of fiscal year 2008, on a pro forma basis, the combined company had $378 million in cash and no bank debt.

    Following the close of the transaction, CSR’s board of directors will be expanded to add two members of the SiRF board, interim CEO Dado Banatao and co-founder and VP of marketing Kanwar Chadha. Van Beurden will lead the combined company as CEO with the remaining leadership to be comprised of executives from both SiRF and CSR. The combined company will be headquartered in Cambridge (United Kingdom), and SiRF’s San Jose, California, headquarters will become the headquarters for CSR’s U.S. operations.

    The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and the approval of SiRF and CSR shareholders.

    More information can be found at www.csr.com.

  • Hexagon Closes on NovAtel Merger Deal

    NovAtel Inc. announced today that Hexagon Canada Acquisition Inc. has successfully taken up all of the shares tendered and not validly withdrawn pursuant to its tender offer for all the outstanding common shares of NovAtel, at an offer price of U.S. $50 in cash per share.

    The tender offer and withdrawal rights expired at 5:00 p.m., New York time, on November 27 2007. According to the depositary for the offer, a total of 8,647,240 common shares of NovAtel were tendered and not validly withdrawn prior to the expiration of the offer (including 306,716 shares delivered pursuant to the guaranteed delivery procedures). Shareholders who validly tendered prior to the expiration of the offer and whose shares were not validly withdrawn will promptly receive the offer price of US $50 in cash per share.

    As a result of the purchase of the common shares of NovAtel in the tender offer, Hexagon, through Hexagon Canada Acquisitions Inc., now owns approximately 93.3% of the outstanding common shares of NovAtel, including shares owned by Hexagon or any of its affiliates prior to the offer.

    Hexagon intends to acquire the remaining outstanding common shares of NovAtel not previously tendered by means of a compulsory acquisition in accordance with Canadian law, on the same terms as the common shares acquired under the tender offer. After the consummation of the compulsory acquisition, Hexagon intends to cause NovAtel’s common shares to cease to be traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

    Following the completion of the compulsory acquisition, NovAtel will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Hexagon but will conduct its business relations with other subsidiaries of Hexagon on an arms length basis.

    “Hexagon is excited for NovAtel to be joining the Hexagon group. We expect great things from NovAtel as it continues to operate independently and grow as a pure play supplier in the market for high precision Global Navigation Satellite System technology solutions to OEMs,” said Ola Rollen, CEO and president of Hexagon AB.

  • GMV Buys Controlling Interest in Masisconvi

    Spanish technology conglomerate GMV has purchased a 66 percent controlling interest in Masisconvi S.A., another Spanish company that specializes in design and manufacture of electronic fare-collection systems.

    This purchase will allow GMV to incorporate Masisconvi’s wide range of electronic fare-collection systems into its own range of products in the passenger transport telematics area, where it has traditionally concentrated on GPS-based fleet management systems. This means that GMV can now offer fleet operating companies a complete, across-the-board coverage of all their possible needs in the field of information systems and communications, the company says.

    There is a growing trend of merging fleet management systems and fare-collection systems, according to GMV. Its takeover of Masisconvi will thus enable it to give a better service to its long-standing customers and develop lower-cost systems with improved service features to break into emerging markets, the company says.

    Masisconvi already has a strong foothold in some of these emerging markets, such as South America and North Africa, so its integration into GMV will not only boost its growth prospects but also improve the joint market position of both companies in the transport telematics market, according to GMV.

  • Broadcom Gets Into the GPS Chip Biz

    Communications chip maker Broadcom Corp. today said it was acquiring GPS chip maker Global Locate Inc., a privately-held provider of GPS and assisted GPS (A-GPS) chips and software.

    Broadcom expects to pay approximately $146 million in cash for all outstanding shares of Global Locate when the deal closes. It anticipates closing on the acquisition during Q3, which ends Sept. 30. A strategic move that will likely prove important in the near future for Broadcom, it’s not a stretch for the company financially; its 2006 revenues were $3.67 billion.

    Broadcom, which specializes in wired and wireless technology and is noted for its RF tech, cited the growth in GPS applications, particularly in mobile devices, as the principal driver behind the acquisition. It noted that Global Locate silicon is found in not only mobile phones but also in personal navigation devices (PNDs) from TomTom.

    “With the acquisition of Global Locate, Broadcom will be the only semiconductor supplier in the world with top-tier customers in Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, FM radio and GPS, four of the key wireless technologies now being added to next generation mobile phones,” stated Robert A. Rango, vice president and general manager of Broadcom’s Wireless Connectivity Group. “We are also pleased to add Global Locate’s strong patent portfolio of over 175 issued and pending U.S. and foreign patents to our already robust patent portfolio.”

    Broadcom holds some 2,000 U.S. and 800 foreign patents with more than 6,000 additional pending patent applications, according to the company.

    Global Locate President Scott Pomerantz said he envisions a new generation of GPS chips coming from the merger—and the eventual appearance of Broadcom wireless technology in PNDs. “The combination of Global Locate’s navigation expertise with Broadcom’s well-known leadership in CMOS RF technology will enable Broadcom to develop a new generation of standalone GPS chips as well as GPS chips that incorporate other wireless standards, accelerating the adoption of GPS into all sorts of consumer devices,” he stated.

    Global Locate has focused on GPS chip and navigation technology since it was founded in 1999. The company is currently producing its third generation of GPS chips and has developed a worldwide GPS reference network that provides assistance data to its A-GPS-equipped chips via cellular data channels (GPRS or 3G), boosting performance and reducing the time required to determine a location by up to a factor of 100, according to the company.