Garmin Ltd. has entered into an agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets of DeLorme, a privately held company that designs and markets consumer-based satellite tracking devices with two-way communication and navigational capabilities.
The completion of the acquisition, which is subject to customary conditions, is expected to occur within 30 to 60 days.
One of the most compelling products in the DeLorme portfolio is its inReach series of two-way satellite communication devices. These GPS-enabled devices allow the user to send and receive satellite text messages or trigger an SOS for emergency help, anywhere in the world. In addition to inReach, DeLorme has an extensive library of digital cartography and enterprise GIS software, as well as traditional mapping.
“DeLorme is a respected brand with exciting products and technologies that are a natural fit in the Garmin portfolio,” said Cliff Pemble, Garmin’s president and CEO. “We look forward to completing the acquisition and welcoming them onto our team. We are looking forward to leveraging their expertise to further enhance the Garmin lineup of products.”
The DeLorme inReach Explorer is a two-way satellite communicator with built-in navigation.
“Our inReach technology is invaluable to hikers, hunters, boaters and pilots who often find themselves in remote areas — Garmin’s core customers. We are looking forward to completing the acquisition and are excited to help leverage our expertise into enhancing their already outstanding products,” said Michael Heffron, CEO of DeLorme. “Garmin has extensive R&D capabilities and a global distribution network that will allow us to provide this technology to customers across many markets and around the world.”
Garmin will retain most of the associates of DeLorme and will continue operations at its existing location in Yarmouth, Maine, following the completion of the acquisition. The Yarmouth facility will operate primarily as a research and development facility and will continue to develop two-way satellite communication devices and technologies. Financial terms of the purchase agreement and acquisition will not be released.
For decades, Garmin has pioneered new GPS navigation and wireless devices and applications that are designed for people who live an active lifestyle. Garmin serves five primary business units, including automotive, aviation, fitness, marine and outdoor recreation.
Avago Technologies Ltd. will move ahead with its merger with Broadcom Corporation, following a shareholder meeting Nov. 10 where shareholders overwhelmingly approved the business transaction.
Avago and Broadcom announced their merger agreement on May 28. The companies have received clearance on the proposed merger from the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States and antitrust authorities in the United States, Japan and Taiwan.
Among other customary conditions to closing, the transaction remains subject to regulatory approvals from the European Commission and antitrust authorities in China and South Korea, all of which are progressing. Avago anticipates that these remaining approvals will be received and expects the transaction to close late in calendar year 2015 or early in 2016.
Avago Technologies is a designer, developer and global supplier of a broad range of analog semiconductor devices with a focus on III-V based products and complex digital and mixed signal CMOS based devices. Its product portfolio includes thousands of products in four primary target markets: wireless communications, enterprise storage, wired infrastructure and industrial, and other.
Qualcomm Incorporated announced Thursday that its subsidiary Qualcomm Global Trading Pte. Ltd. has completed the acquisition of CSR. CSR is known to the GPS/GNSS industry as the maker of the SiRFstar series of chips, which are used in many consumer devices.
Qualcomm started the acquisition process for CSR in October 2014. With this close of the acquisition, Cambridge Silicon Radio Limited, or CSR, is renamed Qualcomm Technologies International Ltd.
The acquisition, which was completed at an enterprise value of approximately $2.2 billion, complements Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.’s offerings by adding a compelling portfolio of new products, sales channels and a large number of customers in the areas of IoE and automotive — both key growth priorities for Qualcomm Technologies.
Cambridge Silicon Radio Limited is an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of CSR that operates, along with its affiliates, substantially all of CSR’s engineering, research and development functions, along with substantially all of the CSR products and services businesses. Cambridge Silicon Radio Limited will be renamed Qualcomm Technologies International, Ltd., which will become a subsidiary of Qualcomm Technologies.
“As we strive to connect billions more devices, automobiles and people within the Internet of Everything, we are enthusiastic about the growth that this combination will foster,” said Steve Mollenkopf, chief executive officer, Qualcomm Incorporated. “CSR’s complementary strengths in connectivity, audio technologies and systems-on-chips will help strengthen Qualcomm Technologies’ position in the IoE and automotive industries, and add to a broad and highly advanced portfolio.”
“We are pleased to join a recognized leader such as Qualcomm Technologies at an exciting time as customers race to satisfy the growing consumer desire for more and more seamlessly connected devices in their ‘smart’ homes, offices and cars,” said Joep van Beurden, chief executive officer, CSR. “Our employees have a strong history of pioneering new products and collaborating with customers to deliver critical technology requirements such as interoperability, low power and connectivity. Together with Qualcomm Technologies, we are better positioned to meet our customers’ needs today and into the future.”
While the accounting for the transaction is not yet finalized, Qualcomm estimates that on a Non-GAAP basis the acquisition will be modestly accretive to earnings per share in fiscal 2016 consistent with prior guidance. In addition, based on preliminary estimates, Qualcomm expects the transaction to be modestly dilutive to GAAP earnings for fiscal 2016 driven primarily by acquisition-related items.
Aspen Avionics has acquired Accord Technology LLC from Accord India. Accord Technology will operate as an Aspen Avionics company continuing to supply Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) -approved OEM GPS solutions to the aerospace industry. Support of its current client base will carry on as usual with licensed production.
“Accord’s expertise to design and develop solutions that meet NextGen and other performance-based navigation requirements, coupled with Aspen’s display offering, create the opportunity to provide unique solutions for all aerospace segments,” said John Uczekaj, president and chief executive officer, Aspen Avionics.
“This is a perfect blending of two companies known for their innovative culture. Aspen and Accord share the same passion to develop aviation solutions that improve situational awareness and promote flight safety at an affordable price,” said Shenoy Raghavendra, Accord Technology chief executive officer.
The transaction, announced today, was completed on June 19 using a combination of cash and securities. NEXA Capital Partners provided merger and acquisition financial advisory services to Aspen Avionics. Also acquired was AvValues LLC, also based in Phoenix. Accord Technology LLC is a joint venture of Accord Software & Systems Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore, India, and AvValues.
Hal Adams, founder of AvValues, has been named executive vice president of business development for the combined companies. He will be driving new business to include growing the successful NexNav product line.
“Our combination of innovation and capabilities is unmatched in the aviation industry with the potential to deliver even more affordable, intuitive fight deck and avionics solutions. This translates into meaningful benefits to owner/operators in all areas of manned and unmanned aviation,” said Adams, executive vice president of business development.
Aspen Avionics is a leader in manufacturing glass cockpit displays for general aviation. Founded 10 years ago, more than 9,000 Aspen cockpit systems have been installed worldwide. Aspen Avionics is globally recognized for providing the general aviation marketplace with innovative and affordable products including its Evolution Flight Display System and Connected Panel — the first certified wireless technology that communicates with onboard avionics systems.
Founded in 2008, Accord Technology’s expertise lies in design, manufacture and support of GPS, with Satellite Based Augmentation Systems (SBAS) such as the USA’s Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), receivers and sensors for OEMs for all aerospace segments, on manned and unmanned platforms. Its NexNav GPS SBAS WAAS multiple-solutions product line revolves around three key receivers: NexNav Mini, NexNav MAX and the recently introduced NexNav Micro.
NORAC provides advanced automated boom height control technology for the global agricultural marketplace. Its current product line includes systems to precisely maintain a spray boom height above the top of the crop or the ground to ensure optimum application of needed fertilizers and plant protection products.
The agreement marks the third precision agriculture-related purchase Topcon has made since November 2014. It adds an additional engineering and manufacturing facility in Canada and raises the total number of Topcon employees dedicated to precision agriculture solutions to more than 700.
“For more than 40 years NORAC has created innovative solutions to improve efficiency on the farm,” said Ray O’Connor, president and CEO of Topcon Positioning Group. “Its automated boom height control technology has transformed the use of agricultural sprayers. We are excited to unite with another precision agriculture leader, especially one that has established its leadership in a way that mirrors the growth of Topcon — by being the first to bring best-in-class technology to the market.”
“It’s another example of our optimism for investing in the agricultural marketplace,” said O’Connor. “Topcon is committed to developing automation and management solutions that bring the power of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) to every farm.”
“We are thrilled to have the opportunity to join the Topcon family,” said Bill Strelioff, president and CEO of NORAC Systems International. “NORAC and Topcon have collaborated well in numerous precision agriculture development projects and know that our synergistic technologies and distribution channels make this a great fit. But just as importantly, we recognize that our company cultures are very closely aligned. That’s the real key to multiplying the benefits of this union.”
Founded in 1974, NORAC pioneered automated boom leveling, and currently enjoys a leading market share within the agricultural industry. In addition to the headquarters in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, three branch offices include NORAC, Inc. (Minnesota, U.S), NORAC Europe sarl (Guéreins, France) and NORAC Trading (Shanghai, China).
“We are excited to welcome the skilled employees at the world-class facilities of NORAC to the precision agriculture team at Topcon,” said Albert Zahalka, president of Topcon Precision Agriculture. “As a global leader for boom leveling, NORAC will add considerable strength to our original equipment manufacturer (OEM) offering, and is an ideal complement to our extensive portfolio of innovative precision agriculture solutions.”
Apple has acquired Coherent Navigation, according to various media reports.
Coherent Navigation is a Bay Area GPS firm founded in 2008 by engineers from Stanford and Cornell. One of its areas of focus was high-integrity GPS (iGPS), an enhanced version of GPS that uses both normal, high-altitude GPS satellites and lower-altitude voice and data satellites from Iridium to increase the accuracy of a consumer’s GPS reading from the ground.
The acquisition seems to be Apple’s latest efforts to bolster its mapping capabilities.
Topcon Positioning Group has acquired Digi-Star, an international provider of agricultural solutions involving weight sensors and control systems for feeding, planting, fertilizer and harvest equipment manufacturers.
“After several years of working on development projects together, we are delighted with this acquisition,” said Ray O’Connor, president and CEO of Topcon Positioning Group. “Digi-Star and Topcon Precision Agriculture are a perfect fit, bringing complementary technologies and distribution channels to our rapidly growing precision agricultural division. At a time when many companies are decreasing their investment in agricultural markets, we are increasingly optimistic about their growth based upon our strong commitment to developing management systems and solutions that bring the power of the Internet of Things (IoT) to every farm.”
Based in Fort Atkinson, Wis., Digi-Star supplies electronic equipment, precision sensors, optical yield and feed management sensors, displays, position verification and software used by farmers and other equipment operators to precisely measure and analyze valuable data from critical farming processes. Digi-Star has expertise in the livestock and grain equipment markets, according to a news release from Topcon.
Mac Moore, president and CEO of Digi-Star, said, “Topcon and Digi-Star have numerous synergies with electronics, sensors, and integration of specific user interfaces for the agriculture and industrial markets that will complement each other’s customers. Both companies will benefit from the expanded product lines and solutions that progressive customers depend upon for maximum profitability.”
In 2012 Digi-Star purchased RDS Technology, a United Kingdom-based company, which possesses similar technology for agricultural and construction applications, adding engineering, development and manufacturing facilities in Europe.
“We are very enthusiastic about the opportunity of combining these companies. In addition to expanding our reach into the farm market segment, this will further extend our scope of field solutions to help us continue strong growth while serving an expanded customer base for Topcon Precision Agriculture, for the aftermarket and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) clients,” said Albert Zahalka, president of Topcon Precision Agriculture. “We are also excited to add the skilled employees and world-class facilities located in the Midwestern United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands to our global agricultural family.
Digi-Star currently employs more than 220 employees in its three locations, with approximately half located in the United States or Europe.
Precision-agriculture company AgJunction has agreed to acquire precision-steering company Novariant, according to a joint press release.
AgJunction holds numerous patents and markets its products and services under the brand names Outback Guidance, Satloc and AgJunction Cloud Services. AgJunction supports advanced farming practices and enables seamless data connectivity among growers and their agricultural service providers. Headquartered in Hiawatha, Kansas, AgJunction has facilities in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Winnipeg, and Queensland, Australia.
Based in Silicon Valley, Novariant’s steering solutions are used in more than 60 countries. With 55 employees worldwide, Novariant generated revenues of approximately $30 million in 2014. Novariant offers interoperable auto-steer capabilities to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and value-added resellers worldwide with more than 750 unique platform-install kits and more than 30,000 systems in the field.
According to the statement, when combined the two companies will be better positioned to achieve market objectives through leveraging:
A larger presence with more resources
A broader OEM partner list
One of the precision agriculture industry’s most comprehensive intellectual property portfolios, providing increased IP protection for OEM partners
Increased R&D capability and efficiency
Complementary customers, market geographies and distribution channels
Reductions in operating redundancy to further improve profitability.
Completion of the transaction is expected to take place this summer.
“Novariant established itself as a pioneer in guidance and auto-steer technologies over 20 years ago,” said Dave Vaughn, CEO of Novariant. “Most recently, Novariant has sharpened its focus on precision agriculture and has positioned its offerings to address a major shift in our industry from after-market channels to factory-installed solutions.”
“A shift like this occurs only once during the lifecycle of a technology, and great companies can be created by accelerating and innovating at the right time,” added Vaughn. “At Novariant we believe this is a transformational opportunity, and AgJunction is the right partner.”
As global machine manufacturers increasingly target the integration of auto steer technologies at the factory level, the combined companies can bring advanced levels of machine automation to both current and future OEM clients faster and at lower cost.
“The combination of Novariant and AgJunction creates an exciting opportunity for our company, for our customers, and for our shareholders,” said Rick Heiniger, president and CEO of AgJunction. “This merger extends the reach and influence with which we pursue a common passion — delivering the most accurate, innovative and reliable steering solutions in the world.”
Once the merger is complete, the combined company will have approximately 200 employees worldwide and will be headquartered at Novariant’s corporate headquarters in Silicon Valley. The combined company plans to maintain additional offices in Kansas, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Canada and Australia.
Dave Vaughn, CEO of Novariant, will be appointed CEO of the combined company, with current AgJunction CEO Rick Heiniger serving as senior advisor to the CEO. In addition, Wes Dittmer will continue to serve as the combined company’s CFO.
Ride service Uber is buying mapping and search startup deCarta, reports Mashable, which said it learned of the deal from an Uber representative.
The deal was expected to close earlier this month. Uber plans to use deCarta’s technology and talent to fine-tune its products and services that rely on maps, including UberPOOL, the smartphone-based ride-sharing app.
Thirty out of 40 deCarta employees will remain with the company, including Kim Fennell, chief executive officer and president, Mashable said. deCarta will continue to operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Uber, but will use its own name.
Founded in 1996, deCarta is privately held, and headquartered in San Jose, Calif., with international offices and distributors in Germany, China, Brazil and South Africa. deCarta is a global location-based services (LBS) technology company that provides specialized geospatial technologies for online mapping, routing, navigation, geocoding, local search and geo-data integration and processing. The company’s platform is used by high-volume LBS applications and services in the mobile, Internet, enterprise-fleet and automotive markets. Customers and technology partners include Samsung, Inrix, T-Mobile, FullPower MotionX GPS Drive, Appello, Denso, Ford, GM OnStar, Masternaut, Wireless Matrix, eMapgo, Nokia/HERE, Spot-On-Time, Telstra/Sensis, TomTom, WHERE/eBay.
In February, Uber announced a partnership with Starwood Hotel and Resorts where Starwood Preferred Guest members earn points towards free hotel stays for every dollar spent riding Uber.
LocationSmart, a provider of cloud-based location and interactivity services, and Locaid, a location-as-a-service platform for enterprise location, have merged to create an enterprise mobility platform for cloud-based location services.
The merger agreement was unanimously approved by the boards of directors of LocationSmart and Locaid, and stockholders of both companies approved the merger on Feb. 19. The combined company will operate under the LocationSmart brand. In conjunction with the merger, LocationSmart secured equity and debt financing led by Intersouth Partners and Hamilton Lane (Florida Growth Fund) to integrate operations and accelerate growth initiatives.
Mario Proietti will continue as CEO of LocationSmart, and Locaid founder and CEO Rip Gerber will serve on the company’s board of directors and as a strategic advisor.
“We are excited that we could join together the two preeminent enterprise location platforms in the industry to better serve our collective customers,” Proietti said. “Working together will enable us to deliver a richer and more robust set of location services that translate into better solutions for our clients. The innovations delivered through our award-winning platforms will continue to lead the market in meeting their needs to locate mobile consumers, workers and assets anywhere, anytime and on any network.”
“This unification of our location platforms is compelling,” Gerber said. “By joining forces, we provide a broader set of location enabling solutions to our enterprise customers, and serve as a more strategic service delivery channel for our wireless carrier partners. This strategic combination makes us very formidable in every part of the mobile location-enabled world. I am delighted that we were able to join the businesses together.”
This combination creates a worldwide cloud-location platform with a customer base of more than 200 brands and companies locating millions of end users to enhance their services and business operations. The merger establishes a stronger platform for future innovation within the mobile location industry, providing significant benefits to all constituencies, including:
Enhanced and trusted, global location awareness of customers, workers and assets
Unified access to a multitude of device location sources with the largest reach in the industry
Reliable and highly scalable enterprise-grade location services available in the cloud
Fully managed and carrier-approved privacy controls compliant with industry best practices
Advancements in international device roaming solutions.
The LocationSmart and Locaid platforms are employed by the Fortune 500 and other leading companies for mission-critical applications in a number of industries including service assistance, proximity marketing, workforce management, emergency alerting, mobile gaming and transaction verification. Through the integration of the two companies and their platforms, customers will be able to access, through a single unified web services interface, the most robust and comprehensive portfolio of cloud-based location services in the world.
Harris Corporation and Exelis Inc. today announced a definitive agreement under which Harris will acquire Exelis in a cash and stock transaction valued at $23.75 per share, or an approximately $4.75 billion enterprise value. The agreement has been unanimously approved by the boards of directors of both companies.
The transaction is expected to close in June 2015 and is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory and Exelis shareholder approval.
Exelis is a global aerospace, defense, information and services company with a 50-year legacy. It was previously under the ITT Corporation umbrella, but spun off in 2011. Headquartered in McLean, Va., Exelis employs about 10,000 people.
Exelis employs about 10,000 people. the combined Harris/Exelis company will have about 23,000 employees. including 9,000 engineers and scientists.
One of Exelis’ biggest product offerings in the past year has been its Signal Sentry 1000, which detects and locates sources of intentional and unintentional interference to GPS signals and provides users with actionable intelligence. Exelis navigation payloads and components have been on board every U.S. GPS satellite ever launched and have more than 700 years of accumulated on-orbit success.
Harris is an international communications and information technology company serving government and commercial markets in more than 125 countries. Headquartered in Melbourne, Fla., the company has about $5 billion of annual revenue and 13,000 employees. Harris is engaged in a five-year contract with Aireon LLC that will create the first global satellite-based aircraft tracking system. The company’s Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) 1090 Extended Squitter receiver payload has been successfully tested and qualified for simulated operation in the harsh environment of space for more than 12 years.
Under the terms of the transaction, Exelis shareholders will receive $16.625 in cash and 0.1025 of a share of Harris common stock, based on Harris’ closing price as of Feb. 5, for each share of Exelis common stock. Upon closing, Harris shareholders will own approximately 85 percent of the combined company, and Exelis shareholders will own approximately 15 percent. On a pro forma basis for the latest 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2014, the combined company would have had more than $8 billion in revenue and about 23,000 employees globally, including 9,000 engineers and scientists.
“Acquiring Exelis is transformational for Harris,” said William M. Brown, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Harris. “The combination of the two companies’ highly complementary core franchises creates a competitively stronger company with significantly greater scale. We are expanding in a market, where we have decades of success and a workforce dedicated to providing our customers with innovative and cost-effective solutions for some of their most complex challenges.”
“This agreement to become part of Harris Corporation represents an exciting new chapter for Exelis,” said David F. Melcher, chief executive officer and president of Exelis. “Combining the companies not only creates shareholder value, but the commitment to excellence and innovation that both companies share will significantly benefit customers and provide new opportunities for employees.”
Melcher also noted, “Our 2014 was another strong year, and we expect to report revenue of approximately $3.25 billion and adjusted operating margin between 12.4 and 12.5 percent, which is in line with our previous guidance.” Exelis indicated that approximately $25 million of its anticipated free cash flow for 2014 shifted into 2015 due to some delayed collections, but that its estimate for 2015 free cash flow is being increased to approximately $275 million. Exelis also expects depreciation and amortization of approximately $106 million in 2014, net debt of $139 million and a net unfunded pension liability of approximately $1.9 billion at the end of 2014. Exelis ended the year with an estimated $2.8 billion in funded backlog.
Integration plan. Harris said it has developed a detailed execution plan to ensure seamless integration and achieve identified cost synergies. The dedicated integration team will have executive leadership and be comprised of senior members of both organizations. Harris is confident in its ability to effectively combine these two companies and provide the organizational alignment to achieve full strategic value, the company stated in a news release.
At the 2014 ION GNSS+ Conference Sept. 9-12 in Tampa, Fla., Lori Thompson of Exelis provided GPS World readers with updates about the company’s activities.
Qualcomm, Inc., has agreed to buy British CSR for $2.5 billion, to enhance its automotive infotainment and Internet of Things (IoT) offerings. CSR is known to the GPS/GNSS industry as the maker of the SiRFstar series of chips, which are used in many consumer devices. Qualcomm is a leading maker of chips used in smartphones.
According to Qualcomm, the acquisition complements the company’s offerings by adding products, channels, and customers in the important growth categories of Internet of Everything (IoE) and automotive infotainment. “This opportunity is aligned with Qualcomm’s established strategic priorities in these rapidly growing business areas,” according to a Qualcomm statement. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the summer of 2015.
Once the transaction is complete, the two major U.S. wireless/mobile-chip design/manufacturers will have GPS/GNSS technology firmly embedded within their organizations. In July 2007, Broadcom acquired Global Locate. More recently, CSR acquired SiRF Technology in June 2009, and now CSR has in turn been acquired by Qualcomm. Throughout 2008, Broadcom and SiRF were locked in a patent battle that Broadcom eventually won, precipitating a decline in SiRF’s one-time dominance and sending it into eventual disappearance/acquisition by CSR. The two companies are again aligned as opponents as part of the rival camps, Qualcomm and Broadcom, whose competition is fully as intense as the former Global Locate (then Broadcom) versus SiRF tussle.
“The addition of CSR’s technology leadership in Bluetooth, Bluetooth Smart, and audio processing will strengthen Qualcomm’s position in providing critical solutions that drive the rapid growth of the Internet of Everything, including business areas such as portable audio, automotive and wearable devices,” said Steve Mollenkopf, chief executive officer of Qualcomm Incorporated. “Combining CSR’s highly advanced offering of connectivity technologies with a strong track record of success in these areas will unlock new opportunities for growth. We look forward to working with the innovative CSR team globally and further strengthening our technology presence in Cambridge and the UK.”
The full announcement, issued in accordance with Rule 2.7 of the UK Takeover Code, can be found on Qualcomm’s website at www.qualcomm.com/2.7.pdf.
