National Instruments Acquires German Automotive Software Company
7 September 1999
National Instruments Acquires German Automotive Software Company; Acquisition Resolves Infringement Dispute on LabVIEW(TM) Patent
AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 7 -- National Instruments Germany GmbH
announced today that it has acquired GfS Systemtechnik GmbH &
Co.KG (Aachen, Germany), and related subsidiaries. Financial terms of the
acquisition were not disclosed. GfS, founded in 1981, is a leading software
provider for the German automotive industry with branch offices in Berlin,
Dresden, Hamburg and Munich plus a United States subsidiary in Novi, Michigan.
"The combined technologies and expertise of National Instruments and GfS
bring to the global marketplace the leading computer-based measurement and
automation solutions for the automotive industry," said Dr. James Truchard,
President and CEO of National Instruments. "We are excited about further
expanding our research and development base in Germany, adding the new
employees to the National Instruments team, and providing expanded coverage
for GfS." Dr. Truchard added the 80 GfS employees will continue their current
employment, and that Dr. Wilfried Melder, President of GfS, will remain as
President (Geschaftsfuehrer) of the new National Instruments subsidiary.
"The combination of GfS and National Instruments greatly enhances the
product development, customer support, training, and turnkey systems that we
can provide our customers," said Dr. Wilfried Melder, President of
GfS GmbH & Co.KG.
National Instruments will be adding the GfS products to its portfolio of
software products for measurement and automation applications including
DIAdem(R), standard software for processing measured data under Windows.
"The acquisition of GfS strengthens our position as the software vendor of
choice for measurement and automation," said Alex Davern, CFO, National
Instruments. "With the exception of a one time charge related to the
acquisition, we do not anticipate that the acquisition will have any material
short term impact on earnings per share."
Dr. Truchard concluded that National Instruments was pleased that the
patent infringement issue was amicably resolved in a way that customers would
not be affected. National Instruments holds more than 20 patents worldwide on
LabVIEW features such as graphical programming structure nodes and VI
hierarchy. LabVIEW is a leading graphical programming environment for
measurement and automation applications.
About National Instruments
National Instruments, a leading supplier of computer-based measurement and
automation products, was founded in 1976. The company manufactures hundreds
of software and hardware products, which when combined with industry-standard
computers, are used to replace and/or communicate with traditional
instrumentation to acquire, analyze, and display data and to monitor and
control processes. These computer-based instrumentation systems are used for
measurement and industrial automation applications.
National Instruments stock is traded on the Nasdaq National Market System
under the symbol NATI. Interested parties can obtain investment information
from the company's Investor Relations Department at 512-349-5090, e-mail
nati@natinst.com , or by visiting http://www.natinst.com/nati
For more information, contact National Instruments, 11500 N Mopac Expwy,
Austin, Texas, 78759-3504. Call toll free in the United States and Canada at
800-258-7022, fax 512-683-9300, e-mail info@natinst.com .
Product and company names listed are trademarks or trade names of their
respective companies.