Topcon Positioning Group has acquired Digi-Star, a portfolio company of Baird Capital Partners which acquired the company in November 2011. Digi-Star is a maker of agricultural weight sensors and control systems for feeding, planting, fertilizer, and harvest equipment manufacturers.
Digi-Star is a global supplier of electronic equipment, precision sensors, optical yield and feed management sensors, displays, position verification, and software used by farmers and other equipment operators to precisely measure and analyze data from farming processes. Digi-Star’s products are sold into the livestock and grain equipment markets. Digi-Star currently employs more than 220 employees in its three locations, with approximately half located in the US or Europe. The company is headquartered in Fort Atkinson, WI (www.digi-star.com).
“After several years of working on development projects together, we are delighted with this acquisition. Digi-Star and Topcon Precision Agriculture are a perfect fit, bringing complementary technologies and distribution channels to our rapidly growing precision agricultural division,” said Ray O’Connor, president and CEO of Topcon Positioning Group. “At a time when many companies are decreasing their investment in agricultural markets, we are increasingly optimistic about their growth based upon our strong commitment to developing management systems and solutions that bring the power of the Internet of Things (IoT) to every farm.”
Topcon Positioning Group designs, manufactures and distributes positioning products used in the surveying, construction, agriculture, civil engineering, building information modeling (BIM), mapping and geographic information systems (GIS), asset management and mobile control markets. The company’s brands include Topcon, Sokkia, Tierra, Wachendorff Elektronik, and 2LS. Topcon was founded in 1932. The company is headquartered in Livermore, CA (www.topconpositioning.com) and its European head office is in Capelle aan den Ijssel, Netherlands (www.topcon-positioning.eu).
“Topcon and Digi-Star have numerous synergies with electronics, sensors, and integration of specific user interfaces for the agriculture and industrial markets that will complement each other’s customers. Both companies will benefit from the expanded product lines and solutions that progressive customers depend upon for maximum profitability,” said Malcolm Moore, president and CEO of Digi-Star.
Baird Capital, the direct private investment arm of Robert W. Baird & Co., invests in lower middle-market companies in the manufactured products, healthcare and business services sectors. The firm invests from $15 million to $35 million in companies with enterprise values of $25 million to $125 million and EBITDAs greater than $5 million. Baird Capital was founded in 1989 and is based in Chicago (www.bairdcapital.com).
© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 3-23-15
