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NEWSTopcon Acquires Topcon Precision Agriculture
Company strengthens
agriculture position
Wednesday 27th September, 2006
ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA AND LIVERMORE, CA. - Topcon Positioning Systems Inc. (TPS) today announced the acquisition of leading precision agricultural company, Topcon Precision Agriculture Pty Ltd.
Topcon Precision Agriculture, an Australian-based company with more than 25 years experience in agricultural electronics and applications, focuses on the precision agriculture market.
Topcon Positioning Systems, a developer and manufacturer of positioning equipment, offers the world's leading selection of innovating precision GPS, GIS, laser, optical surveying, and machine control, products, software, and applications.
Topcon has been providing
products, software, hardware and applications for the agriculture market
for more than 10 years. TPS products are used worldwide in the areas of
data acquisition and management, machine control, precision land leveling,
mapping, and water use management.
Ray O'Connor, president and CEO of TPS, said, "The joining of these
two world-leading technology companies - TPS, with its precise positioning
technology and products, and Topcon's fully integrated precision agricultural
technology and instruments - will provide unmatched solutions for the
global agricultural market.
"Topcon's technology in agriculture," he said, meshed with TPS
positioning technology and "our company's history in this important
market segment, will allow the development of the most advanced and complete
product portfolio for this emerging precision Ag and prescription farming
techniques."
O'Connor said this "strategic move improves the focus for Topcon's
agricultural segment and is another step in our plan to grow our business"
around the world. "Topcon moved into the construction market approximately
10 years ago with less than 1 percent of the market; today we have approximately
40 percent share.
"Combining Topcon and Topcon and leveraging Topcon-Sauer Danfoss (TSD),
our joint venture company, which provides approximately 70 percent of
the worldwide steering hydraulics for tractors, should allow us to easily
achieve our minimum target of 40 percent market share," he said.
O'Connor said, "Couple all the obvious fits from a technology point
of view and combine this with the great employees, distributors and culture
that Topcon has, we see nothing but expansion opportunities for all involved.
The companies, people and distributors are really a 'glove fit'."
Les Mann, CEO of Topcon, said the corporate marriage is a "win-win-win
situation for both companies, individual dealer networks, and customers
around the world. Precise positioning technology is changing the global
face of agriculture." He said, "It's not enough to just plant
and harvest crops. It is vitally important to increase productivity at
every step of the operation, while always being conscious of environmental
concerns."
The global footprints of the two companies are "extremely compatible,"
Mann said. Both companies have staff and dealers throughout the world,
including North America, South America, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe.
Tony Hirayama, TPS executive vice president, said the acquisition of Topcon
would be a boon for the global agriculture community. "Utilizing
the research and development resources of both companies will accelerate
the next generation of product development to provide increased environmental
management, real time remote monitoring, and control of equipment. This
acquisition matches the overall business strategy of Topcon Corporation's
positioning division and is guaranteed to spread our presence in the global
agriculture market."
He said, "With the completion of the acquisition, the Topcon Precision Agriculture
facility in South Australia will become Topcon's Technology Center for
development of the next generation of agricultural technology and solutions.
Topcon currently provides agricultural users a fully integrated solution
with its single console X20 system, which allows farming equipment -
seeders, sprayers, spreaders, and harvesters - to be monitored and controlled
in real time and provides exemplary environmental risk management.
Topcon's Auto Section Control (ASC) and Variable Rate Control (VRC) technology
reduces operator costs, improves yields, increases overall productivity,
and ensures greater sustainable environmental management.
Topcon products monitor and regulate precision spraying of crops, on-site
machine guidance, and its software (X20) controls seeding, spraying,
and spreading applications. "With X20," Mann said, "users
tackle the high-end of precision farming with one console that can create,
control and log as well as steer and turn on and off specific pieces of
equipment."
The Topcon management team will remain in place and all current Topcon employees,
numbering more than 70, will remain with the new company. With the
addition of the Topcon staff members, TPS now has almost 700 employees worldwide.
TOPCON POSITIONING SYSTEMS: Topcon Positioning Systems Inc. (TPS)
is the United States of America subsidiary of Tokyo-based Topcon Corporation.
A $1 billion-plus company, Topcon Corp., has more than 4,000 employees
worldwide. The company's primary shareholder is Toshiba.
Topcon Corporation stock is traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (7732).
Topcon has focused on developing an array of integrated positioning and
automation technologies to meet the constantly changing demands facing
agriculture, construction, surveying, utilities, and law enforcement industries
worldwide. TPS has pioneered more "firsts" in the positioning
technology arena than any other company.
TPS is the industry leader in the conception, design and manufacture of
creative, cutting-edge positioning technologies and products and prides
itself on providing exemplary customer service.
For more information
on Topcon Positioning Systems visit www.topconpositioning.com
Topcon Precision Agriculture: Topcon Precision Agriculture is a privately held company
that develops and manufactures innovative electronic control and monitoring
solutions for agricultural equipment, giving operators improved productivity,
reduced input costs, greater yields and environmental controls.
Topcon produces a range of controllers and monitors covering equipment guidance,
steering assistance, spraying, seeding, planting, fertilizing, spreading,
and incorporating auto section and variable rate control. This includes
Topcon's own designed and manufactured ISO 11783/CANBUS capable X20 X20
Windows™ XP based vehicle mounted computer.
Topcon provides farmers and agri-businesses with technological tools to combat
increasing cost of fuel, chemicals, and fertilizers costs, and the need
to ensure improved environmental control.
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