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Hansen® Acquires Spear Technologies,
Inc.
Addition of Leading Provider of Public Transit & Rail
Asset Management Solutions Extends Hansen's Government
Technology Footprint
Contact
Juli Rose
P: (916)
921-0883, ext. 3511
E: juli.rose@hansen.com
Rancho Cordova,
California, April 20, 2006 - Hansen
Information Technologies (Hansen®) today
announced the acquisition of San Francisco-based Spear
Technologies, Inc.,
the leading provider of asset management solutions
for the public transit and rail market.
Today, Spear solutions support the maintenance activities at four of the ten
largest public transit agencies in the United States, including New York City
Transit, Los Angeles County MTA, Dallas Area Rapid Transit, and San Francisco
Municipal Railway. The company's products also support the maintenance activities
at three of the five largest bus companies serving central London.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but acquisition financing was
provided by existing investors, led by San Francisco-based Golden
Gate Capital, a $2.6 billion private equity fund.
(Above) San Francisco's
world famous cable car, part of the
multi-modal public transit fleet of
the San Francisco Municipal Railway,
a Spear customer. |
"The acquisition of Spear Technologies
is consistent with our strategy of building a suite
of scalable Microsoft .NET business applications that
serve the government enterprise," said Chuck Hansen,
Chairman and CEO of Hansen. "Given the asset-intensive
nature of government, with fixed assets often representing
over 70% of total assets, Spear enhances Hansen's position
as the de facto standard for the management and valuation
of public sector assets. The addition of Spear to our
portfolio expands Hansen's ability to integrate, streamline,
and manage the design, permitting, construction, operation,
maintenance, rehabilitation, and revenue cycle of public
sector assets."
Founded in 1997, Spear serves over 10,000 users worldwide and maintains transportation
and rolling stock assets that move over 11 million people each day. Spear's ten
largest U.S. public transit customers manage more than 17,000 bus and rail vehicles.
Key benefits of Spear's solutions include increased asset utilization, enhanced
workforce productivity, improved safety, minimized inventory levels, improved
warranty collections, and increased return on assets.
"We are delighted to team with a visionary company like Hansen that is focused
exclusively on delivering business solutions to the government market," stated
Mike Thomas, Founder & Chairman of Spear. "Teaming with Hansen allows us to expand
our presence in the mid-size public transit and international rail markets."
John Barbera, President & Chief Operating Officer of Spear added, "Hansen and
Spear customers will benefit by standardizing on a single vendor that can deliver
an end-to-end solution using a Microsoft .NET platform. Hansen's integrated suite
of web-based Asset Management, Building Permit, CRM, Financials, GASB 34 Valuation,
GIS, Transportation, and Web Portal solutions, provide a natural extension to
our public transit and rail domain expertise."
In the United States, selected Spear customers include:
Selected Spear international customers
include:
"We are committed to protecting
the significant investment in technology made by Spear
customers," said Mark Watts, President of Hansen. "Customers
of Spear will immediately gain access to our deep understanding
of Microsoft .NET solutions and history of delivering
a steady stream of customer-driven enhancements."
Spear immediately becomes Hansen's new Transit and Rail Business Unit, supporting
its own dedicated global sales, product management, project delivery, application
development, and training resources.
Customers and prospects will get
their first glimpse of the Hansen-Spear product offering
at the upcoming American Public Transit Association
(APTA) Conference. Attendees are encouraged to
visit the Hansen/Spear Internet Café throughout the
conference.
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About Spear Technologies, Inc.
Spear is the world's leading
provider of public transit and rail asset management systems. Headquartered in
San Francisco, California, the company focused on helping public sector customers
maintain high-value rolling stock and moving assets, such as busses, railway,
aircraft, vessels, and support fleets. In addition, the company is a leader in
managing fixed and linear assets, such as mining equipment, passenger terminals,
airports, and track. For more information, visit www.speartechnologies.com.
About Hansen
Information Technologies
Founded in 1983, Hansen® is
the world's leading provider of intelligent, adaptive, and pervasive solutions
that help manage the transactions of government. Headquartered in Rancho Cordova,
California, the company is a privately-held corporation employing over 300
people with offices in Auckland, London, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney, and Toronto.
For more information, visit www.hansen.com.
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