Xplore buys rival for $16M

Austin-based Motion Computing reportedly was in financial straits.

Austin-based rugged tablet maker Xplore Technologies Corp. said Thursday it has scooped up competitor Motion Computing Inc., which was facing financial difficulties.

A bank has closed on substantially all of Austin-based Motion Computing’s assets, and the company might have been on the verge of bankruptcy, Xplore Technologies executives said in Thursday conference calls with investors and analysts. Motion Computing also sells a line of rugged tablet computers.

The sale is valued at about $16 million, which could be considered a bargain from Motion’s peak days when it raised nearly $50 million and employed nearly 200 Austin workers. The deal includes $9 million in cash, and calls for Xplore to assume $7 million in Motion Computing’s debt. The transaction is slated to close Friday.

Xplore Technologies’ stock closed up 51 cents or 7.5 percent to $7.31 on the Nasdaq exchange Thursday

after news of the deal was disclosed.

This is “the single largest event in Xplore’s history,” Philip Sassower, chairman and CEO of Xplore Technologies, said in Thursday’s call. “Our product lines complement each other very nicely. ... I assure you this will be a transformative deal.”

The move will let Xplore Technologies establish the “best and broadest line of rugged tablets for the enterprise market” and provide a “one-stop shop” for the tablets, company executives said.

Xplore Technologies executives said they will also be able to expand their international reach through the deal, since nearly 50 percent of Motion Computing’s revenue comes from outside the U.S.

Sassower compared the deal to buying a $5 million home in Connecticut for just $3 million and investing in the property to bring its value back up. “It’s sort of like I am buying a distressed sale,” he said.

As of Thursday, Motion Computing had about 80 employees, bringing the newly combined workforce to about 120 employees, executives said.

Xplore Technologies executives said they

The move will let Xplore Technologies establish the ‘best and broadest line of rugged tablets.’

don’t plan any layoffs at this time, and are looking to add jobs. Motion had several rounds of layoffs in recent years.

Xplore Technologies was founded in 1998 and relocated its headquarters from Toronto to Austin in 2004. The company makes tablet computers for rugged environments such as construction sites and military settings.

Last month, Xplore said it raised $13.8 million in a new offering of common stock.

In its most recently completed fiscal year, Xplore Technologies reported revenue of $35.58 million, which was up 17 percent over its $30.49 million in revenue for the previous fiscal year.

Motion Computing last year reported revenue of $83 million and posted a net loss of $7 million.