Trimble Acquires INPHO GmbH

Trimble (CA, USA) has acquired privately-held INPHO GmbH (Germany) in an all-cash transaction. INPHO is a leader in photogrammetry and digital surface modelling for aerial surveying, mapping and remote sensing applications. Financial terms were not disclosed.

As an end-to-end photogrammetry solutions supplier, INPHO's product portfolio covers the entire workflow of projects, including aerial triangulation, stereo compilation, terrain modeling, orthophoto production and image capture. In addition, INPHO offers software solutions for processing digital terrain models, including advanced filtering and editing of Lidar data. With a large customer base of more than 1,000 users in over 100 countries, INPHO products are used by service companies offering geospatial data collection by photogrammetry and Lidar as well as state authorities involved in supplying geospatial information.

“Photogrammetry adds a new dimension to Trimble to address the geospatial information industry. Our business has been primarily focused on ground or terrestrial-based positioning solutions with our Integrated Surveying and newly formed Spatial Imaging product portfolios,” said Ken Spratlin, director for strategy and business development for Trimble. “By acquiring INPHO we have taken the next step in our Spatial Imaging initiative.”

With recent advances in the geospatial information industry, more opportunities and applications for geospatial data are being identified for industries such as transportation and civil engineering, utilities and communications, natural resources management, government and military. Photogrammetry and aerial imaging provide exceptional overhead views of roads, bridges, dams, construction sites, buildings and forests as well as other structures and natural resources on the Earth. The acquisition of INPHO’s photogrammetry and Lidar software processing technologies augment Trimble's existing ground-based positioning solutions to enable users to capture, extract, and analyse layers of accurate air-to-ground data to increase productivity.

“We are pleased to become a part of Trimble,” said Johannes Saile, managing director of INPHO. “The acquisition solidifies our best-in-class technologies and provides us access to Trimble’s global footprint of resources that we can leverage to enhance our existing organisation. INPHO provides a core competency in airborne sensor modelling, image processing and automated feature extraction to augment Trimble’s existing Integrated Survey and Spatial Imaging portfolio of solutions.”

Johannes Saile and the staff of INPHO will join Trimble and operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary.

Source: Trimble