Shah Capital buys Magellan for $170 Mil

location based services

An investment group led by Shah Capital Partners (SCP) today announced they have reached an agreement to acquire Thales Navigation, makers of the Magellan series of GPS units. Reports are out that say the deal was for $170 million USD. We reported on this possibility back in May. This is good news, I think that Magellan has lost its way recently and didn’t bring the innovation to the GPS marketplace that they were capable of and needed to do. These are the people that got the jump on automotive navigation, and where are they today in the European Market, or the US market, where the entire category is exploding? Garmin is eating their lunch in the US, while TomTom is doing the same in Europe. Let’s face it, competition is good for consumers, and while I am happy to hear about the recent launches of the new RoadMates, I am even more happy to hear about this purchase. In the near term, Shah capital had better pump some dollars into R&D (like Garmin did 2 years ago), and in eighteen months, I would expect some innovative products popping out the other end.
The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2006. The new Company will be named Magellan Navigation, Inc. and will be headquartered in San Dimas, California.
“We are excited to work with such an industry leader in the high-growth navigation market,” said Ajay Shah, managing partner of SCP. “Thales Navigation is well positioned with a number of core strengths, including leadership positions in both consumer and commercial markets, the strength of the Magellan brand, pervasive retail distribution, and a strong technology portfolio. We are looking forward to working with the management team to build on these successes and continue the growth of the business as demand for navigation technology continues to expand.”
“SCP is a great fit for Thales Navigation,” said Henry Gaillard, chief executive officer of Thales Navigation. “This is an exciting new phase for the company. We intend to execute aggressively on our strategy to increase our leadership in the consumer, survey, GIS and OEM markets worldwide, and SCP is both committed and uniquely qualified to help us achieve even greater success as a stand alone company.” help you out.
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