Trimble Navigation Ltd. (TRMB), an original equipment manufacturer of positioning, surveying and machine control products, recently acquired privately-held IRON Solutions. The financial details of the deal have been kept confidential.
Headquartered in the U.S., IRON Solutions provides market information, analytics-based intelligence and a cloud-based enterprise system to improve productivity, enabling farmers, agriculture dealers and advisors to better optimize equipment fleets. The company manages in excess of 15 million data points annually from over 1,200 manufacturers and more than 2,200 retail sources across North America.
The acquisition, effective immediately, will extend Trimble’s capabilities in serving farmers. IRON Solutions’ suite of integrated, cloud-based enterprise services, along with Trimble’s new Connected Farm online dashboard will help farmers and dealers increase overall productivity.
Farmers will now be able to make informed purchase decisions, manage fleet and efficiently plan equipment turns, availing agricultural, industrial and outdoor power equipment at competitive prices. Additionally, dealers can collaborate with farmers for various operations like sales, service and financing details about the equipment via one cloud-based system. The platform also enables crop advisors to track and manage their customers' needs through varying farming prescriptions and growing cycle conditions.
Trimble’s Connected Farm is an electronic dashboard that helps farmers manage operations by providing key information such as weather forecasts, rainfall totals, commodity prices, field operation maps and fleet locations. Farmers will now get real time information regarding equipment fleets.
This crucial knowledge will help farmers, their equipment dealers as well as agronomic advisors to get the best return from their investments. They will now have one Connected Farm platform for collaborating key investment and prescription decisions.
Trimble has an aggressive merger and acquisition strategy. In 2014, the company closed half a dozen acquisitions serving various business models. Recently, it acquired the Dublin-based Nexala, a provider of enterprise solutions to the rail industry. In November, Trimble acquired UK-based Amtech Group to expand its global presence in the mechanical, electrical and plumbing market. These acquisitions have enhanced the company’s product line-up and revenues.
Trimble’s third-quarter 2014 revenues came in at $584.8 million, down 8.9% sequentially but up 5.1% year over year. The revenues were affected by weak performance in all the segments, especially agriculture business. However, Trimble’s acquisitions have been helping it to build a strong product portfolio and position itself in markets with better growth prospects.
Other Stocks to Consider
Currently, Trimble has a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Other stocks that are performing well at the current levels include Control4 Corporation (CTRL), GigOptix, Inc. (GIG) and Universal Electronics Inc. (UEIC). All these stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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