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GE Industrial to acquire Microwave Data Systems

ControlGlobal.com
01/10/2007

LOUISVILLE, Ky. and SANTA BARBARA, Ca. -- January 5, 2007 -- GE Industrial, a unit of General Electric (NYSE:GE), and Moseley Associates have announced the signing of an agreement for GE to acquire the assets of Rochester, NY-based Microwave Data Systems (MDS), a subsidiary of Moseley Associates and a world leader in industrial, wireless, and networking solutions. The acquisition offers complementary technology to GE's Multilin business, part of GE Consumer & Industrial. It will create growth opportunities for Multilin in its current markets and in the $1.3 billion global industrial wireless market segment, which is expected to grow 15 percent in 2007. The transaction is subject to customary government approvals and is expected to close in January 2007.

MDS employs approximately 275 people who design and manufacture networked high-speed, microwave radios for wireless communications solutions in use in oil and gas, utility, traffic monitoring, public safety, lottery and other industrial applications. The MDS wireless technology - combined with Multilin's current product lines in protection, metering, control and automation systems - will offer customers improved asset protection and control through enhanced security, speed and access of information, even in the most remote and challenging environments, by eliminating the need for wiring. MDS' technology also helps Multilin customers to significantly reduce the cost of system interconnection, commissioning, and maintenance costs while increasing overall system performance and uptime. The MDS technology also enables the potential for a wide-range of applications in the products and services of other GE businesses, including Oil & Gas, Energy, Transportation, Equipment Services, and GE Fanuc.

"MDS is a highly technical and innovation-based enterprise with a stream of new products planned for launch in '07 and beyond. This is exactly the type of business we want in our portfolio," said Larry Sollecito, General Manager, GE Multilin. "Combining MDS' technology and products with that of Multilin not only gives us more and better solutions for our current customers but also opens up new markets for us to serve. The potential for growth is tremendous."

Jamal Hamdani, President and CEO of Moseley Associates, said, "For several years now, we have articulated a vision for Moseley -- to become the GE of the wireless business -- a global, diversified, and profitable market leader. Today, that vision is becoming reality in the industrial wireless business, as one of our companies, MDS, now becomes the wireless component of GE's industrial business. As we move forward, our company and our subsidiaries will continue our tradition to provide innovative products and services, always striving to anticipate and exceed the needs of our customers and employees."

Upon closure, the new business will be a wholly-owned GE subsidiary called GE MDS, LLC. Roberto Vengoechea, currently GM of Multilin's Instrument Transformer business, will lead GE MDS, LLC, working with its current leadership team of Richard Nozel, John Geiger, Mike Wagner, and David Rodriguez.

About GE Multilin

Multilin -- based in Markham, CN -- a unit of GE Consumer & Industrial, is a global leader in the design, manufacture, sales and service of protection, metering, control and automation systems, as well as instrumentation transformers and telecommunications networks for utility, industrial and general industry application. http://www.geindustrial.com/multilin/

About Moseley

Moseley and its wholly owned subsidiaries, Axxcelera Broadband Wireless and CarrierComm, offer wireless solutions from 9.6 kbps to 311 Mbps covering the 250 MHz to 38 GHz spectrum for both point-to-point and point-to-multipoint applications for the broadcast, broadband enterprise, and service provider marketplaces. Moseley's ETSI-, FCC-, Anatel-, IC-, UL-, and CE-approved radios are deployed in over 120 countries. http://www.moseleysb.com

About MDS

MDS is world leader in industrial, wireless, networking solutions with applications in the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), automation, telecommunication, public safety, and online transactional market segments. The business designs and manufactures networked high-speed point-to-multipoint, and medium and low capacity point-to-point microwave radios for use in oil and gas, utility, traffic monitoring, public safety, and lottery industries. http://www.microwavedata.com/