CNH Industrial agrees to buy Hemisphere GNSS for $175 mln
30/03/2023 12:59
MILAN, March 30 (Reuters) - CNH Industrial CNHI.MI
said on Thursday that it had agreed to buy Hemisphere GNSS, a
high-performance satellite positioning technology company, for
$175 million to improve automation in its agriculture and
construction businesses.
CNH, a farm machinery and construction equipment maker, said
in a statement that the preliminary purchase price was free of
cash and debt and that it would fund the deal through available
cash. It is buying the business from China's Beijing Unistrong
002383.SZ .
At the beginning of last year, the Italian American group
separated from its truck and bus making unit, now listed as
Iveco Group IVG.MI , to focus on farm machinery and
construction equipment. Just before that, in 2021, it bought
U.S.-based Raven for $2.1 billion to consolidate its presence in
the precision farming segment.
"Combined with our Raven Brand's capabilities, this
development gives us full control of our precision and
navigation technologies," CNH said with reference to the deal
announced on Thursday.
CNH said Hemisphere's core technology capabilities included
application-specific integrated circuit chips, circuit boards,
radio frequency signal processing, navigation algorithms and
satellite-based correction designs.
Hemisphere will continue to operate as a standalone business
through its operations in the U.S., Canada and Australia, CNH
said.
The closing of the deal is expected within the third quarter
of this year, subject to conditions including approvals by
Beijing Unistrong shareholders and those required by Chinese
laws and regulations.
(Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari; Editing by Sharon Singleton)
((giulio.piovaccari@thomsonreuters.com))