Zebra adds Navis

Zebra CEO Anders Gustafsson said the sale process took around six months to conclude and Navis initiated the sale process. As a privately-held company since its inception little information has been previously available on Navis’s financial position but Gustafsson said that it has recorded double digit growth over the last two years and Zebra expects its sales in 2007 to be approximately US$60M.Navis has a strong customer base with around 200 out of 850 ports worldwide using one or more Navis products. He also noted that Navis’ gross margin is higher than Zebra’s but its operating margin is lower. Over the last few years Navis has invested heavily in refactoring its Flagship SPARCS application into the Java based SPARCS N4. Only a handful of Navis customers are using N4 and it has taken longer to develop than planned. However, Philip Gerskovich, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development said Zebra was very satisfied with the Navis product road map and believes the new SPARCS N4 Java platform can be the base of applications in other markets as well as opening up possibilities in the software as a service market. Earlier this year Zebra purchased WhereNet and it will now market its active RFID, Navis software and Proveo products from a new division. Zebra’s strategy is to combine Navis software with the RTLS capabilities of the other two companies to position Zebra as a “more valued strategic technology provider.” Zebra will also leverage Navis’ Indian office where it has 75 staff to build low-cost product development capability for the wider Zebra companies.

Commenting on the sale Navis CEO John Dillon said the combination with Zebra “will ensure that Navis continues to provide the highest levels of innovation and service our customers deserve and require“ and that Navis will “benefit from Zebra’s financial strength, global reach, and engineering expertise”. Zebra is expecting significant benefits from the ability to market Navis and WhereNet products across both customer bases and combine Navis software with WhereNet RTLS for new clients. Although Gustaffson said both companies have worked as “partners” previously, Navis earlier this year announced an RTLS system using different technology to and in direct competition with WhereNet.