Zebra Technologies announces divestiture of Navis

In a development that may signal a shift in global marine terminal operations, Zebra Technologies Corporation announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Navis business to Cargotec Corporation.

Navis has long been regarded as an innovator in applications arena for port operations.

The deal, valued at approximately $190 million in cash is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2011, subject to regulatory approvals, customary closing conditions and working capital adjustments.

Management estimates that the sale will result in an after-tax gain of $30-$40 million, which will be recorded in the period in which the transaction is completed.

The transaction also includes certain business operations serving marine terminal customers that comprised a small part of Zebra’s 2007 acquisition of WhereNet, including the WhereNet Marine Terminal Solution product line. All other elements of WhereNet, such as real time location, tags and readers, will remain with Zebra.

Bill Walsh, president of Oakland, Calif.-based Navis, told LM that for shippers, the continued support should not be a question:

“Navis will remain a separate company, run independently as a part of Cargotec corporation. The Navis solutions will continue to work well for our customers and their many different equipment needs”

“Following the sale of Navis, Zebra will benefit from a sharper focus on its core business to drive consistent long-term growth, said Anders Gustafsson, Zebra’s CEO in a statement.

He noted that Zebra’s concentration in asset tracking with specialty printing, RFID, and real-time locating solutions is used across a broad range of industries and applications – quite apart from terminal operations.

Navis is a leading global appications provider of operating systems to coordinate and automate the planning and management of container and equipment moves in marine terminals and other complex and demanding business environments.