Hexagon acquires the software provider Xygent Inc.
8/20/2002 4:18 AM EST
HEXAGON ACQUIRES THE SOFTWARE PROVIDER XYGENT INC.
Hexagon Metrology, Hexagon's business unit within metrology, has
acquired the remaining majority stake in the American software provider
Xygent, Inc. from BNSCo, Inc. Subsequent to the transaction Xygent will
be fully owned by Hexagon. The company will be consolidated as of August
21st, 2002.
Xygent has since 1997 invested more than 30 MUSD in developing an open
architecture metrology and applications software, based upon a common
platform known as XactCOM. Accordingly, XactCOM is a valuable
contribution to Hexagon's software portfolio.
Operationally, the business of Xygent will be integrated with Wilcox and
Associates, Inc. (WAI), which is already fully owned by Hexagon. WAI's
software PCDMIS is today the leading software within the metrology area.
PCDMIS is sold together with any new metrology hardware of Hexagon
Metrology, or as retrofit of own or most competitor machines. The
software PCDMIS is turning into a common platform for many applications.
"By adding certain technology and utilizing skills developed within
Xygent, the development of PCDMIS will continue even faster, " says Ola
Rollén, CEO Hexagon Group. From a market perspective, PCDMIS provides a
proven and widely accepted technology, which get more and more accepted
as a market standard. "Just as for hardware, most customers are
concerned investing in smaller brands, that might not be sustainable on
the market. Especially enterprise customers want to have a long term
relation with their suppliers, and a software platform is something You
regard as strategic because it involves huge internal investments in
internal part program, education and IT-structure", Ola Rollén
continues.
Hexagon Metrology has a strategy to be an active part in the ongoing
consolidation of the total metrology market. PCDMIS will be the software
platform supporting different metrology technologies to meet the total
need of a customer from design to manufacturing and quality control.
For further information, please contact:
Ola Rollén, President and CEO Håkan Halén, CFO
Hexagon AB Hexagon AB
Phone: +46 (0)8 - 601 26 20 Phone: +46 (0)8 - 601 26 20
Hexagon AB is a multinational engineering group with the long-term
ambition of positioning itself as number one or number two within its
strategic sectors. The operation is divided into three business areas:
Hexagon Automation, Hexagon Engineering and Hexagon Metrology. The
group's targets are to increase earnings per share after tax by at least
15 per cent p.a., and achieve a return on capital employed higher than
15 per cent over the business cycle. Current turnover amounts to more
than 7 GSEK p.a.