CNH Industrial to Acquire GNSS, a Provider of Satellite Positioning Technologies
CNH Industrial announced that it has agreed to acquire Hemisphere GNSS, a global leader in high-performance satellite positioning technology, currently owned by Unistrong, a company incorporated in the People’s Republic of China. The acquisition advances CNH’s automated and autonomous solutions for agriculture and construction, the company said. Combined with its Raven Brand’s capabilities, the acquisition gives the company full control of its precision and navigation technologies.
“This move enhances our automation and autonomy tech stack and broadens our talent pool,” said Marc Kermisch, chief digital & information officer, CNH Industrial. “Having Hemisphere’s technology in-house will enable us to accelerate a broad range of our precision technology programs, providing our customers with immediate productivity-enhancing solutions. It will also increase the long-term competitiveness and flexibility of our agriculture and construction portfolio.”
Hemisphere’s proprietary Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) solutions provide pinpoint accuracy for the agriculture, construction, mining and marine industries. The company designs Electronic Systems and Software solutions. Its core technology capabilities include application-specific integrated circuit chips, circuit boards, radio frequency signal processing, navigation algorithms and satellite-based correction designs. It will continue to operate as a standalone business via operations in the United States, Canada and Australia.
Hemisphere’s expertise and network will be integrated into the brands’ products and services. This combination of technology and product will contribute to providing customers with a superior user experience in the field and on the jobsite, the company said.
“Our team is excited to combine resources and talent with CNH Industrial,” said Farlin Halsey, president and CEO, Hemisphere GNSS. “This enables us to further enhance our technology and product development in core GNSS, agriculture, construction, marine and machine control markets, and to directly integrate our technology with CNH Industrial’s world class equipment.”
The price for the acquisition is preliminarily determined at $175 million, free of cash and debt, and subject to customary adjustments. It will be funded with available cash on hand. Closing is expect within the third quarter of 2023 subject to completion of closing conditions, including Unistrong’s shareholders’ approval and all mandatory regulatory approvals, including those required by China.
About the Author
Michael Roth
Editor
Michael Roth has covered the equipment rental industry full time for RER since 1989 and has served as the magazine’s editor in chief since 1994. He has nearly 30 years experience as a professional journalist. Roth has visited hundreds of rental centers and industry manufacturers, written hundreds of feature stories for RER and thousands of news stories for the magazine and its electronic newsletter RER Reports. Roth has interviewed leading executives for most of the industry’s largest rental companies and manufacturers as well as hundreds of smaller independent companies. He has visited with and reported on rental companies and manufacturers in Europe, Central America and Asia as well as Mexico, Canada and the United States. Roth was co-founder of RER Reports, the industry’s first weekly newsletter, which began as a fax newsletter in 1996, and later became an online newsletter. Roth has spoken at conventions sponsored by the American Rental Association, Associated Equipment Distributors, California Rental Association and other industry events and has spoken before industry groups in several countries. He lives and works in Los Angeles when he’s not traveling to cover industry events.