Wärtsilä, a global technology group headquartered in Finland, announced on March 19 that it had acquired Transas, an innovative digital solutions provider headquartered in the UK. This acquisition is a recognition of Transas’ strong position in the maritime technologies market and its technological leadership. The transaction will allow Transas to work within a global maritime company in delivering its solutions, bringing scale and value to the industry in need of innovation leadership. The move will speed Wärtsilä along its path towards its Smart Marine Ecosystem vision.
This acquisition takes Wärtsilä a significant step closer to achieving its mission of enabling sustainable societies with smart technologies. It will also speed delivery on the company’s promise to disrupt the industry by establishing an ecosystem that is digitally connected across the entire supply chain, through applications that are secure, smart and cloud-based.
The transaction is valued at MEUR 210 (enterprise value) and is expected to be closed in Q2 of 2018.
Established in 1990, Transas is a global market leader in marine navigation solutions that include complete bridge systems, digital solutions and electronic charts. The company is also a leader in professional training and simulation services, ship traffic control, as well as monitoring, and decision-support tools. Transas leverages the latest advances in machine learning and AI to create a unified cloud-based platform for managing operations across the entire marine ecosystem.
Transas’ current annual net sales is EUR 140 million. Transas has 22 regional offices worldwide and a distribution network that spans 120 countries. It has a workforce of approximately 1000 employees who will be integrated within Wärtsilä’s Marine Solutions business. Transas’ large and competent base of software engineers will play a key role in propelling Wärtsilä to accelerate the development of smart digital platform products.
“It’s incredibly exciting to have this opportunity to join the Wärtsilä brand in delivering the future of maritime transport. The Transas team has significant competences in technology, along with a globally recognized leadership position in navigation, simulation and traffic control systems. Adding these to the extensive world leading Wärtsilä services and products provides an unparalleled opportunity for a new ecosystem for maritime operations,” says Frank Coles, CEO, Transas.
Wärtsilä’s Smart Marine Ecosystem is a vision whereby smart vessels connect with smart ports and beyond to deliver three fundamental industry benefits: (i) maximizing the use of resources and operational efficiency, (ii) minimizing environmental impact and risk, and (iii) achieving the highest levels of safety and security.
Through data integration, greater connectivity and cloud-based technology, Wärtsilä aims to resolve inefficiencies in the shipping sector resulting from over-capacity, sub-optimal fuel consumption, waiting times at ports and other high-traffic areas.
“Combining Transas with Wärtsilä will bring the Smart Marine Ecosystem many steps forward. We can now connect Wärtsilä’s product portfolio, the biggest in the Marine industry, with Ship Traffic Control, Simulators, Navigation solutions and fleet operation solutions from Transas. The combined package will further improve the way a vessel can sail in the most cost efficient and environmental friendly way for our customers,” says Roger Holm, President, Wärtsilä Marine Solutions.
Transas’ vision is to lead the way in creating an ecosystem of harmonized integrated solutions in safety, navigation and ship operations. In creating these solutions Transas unites global maritime stakeholders in the future of e-Navigation and operations. www.transas.com
Wärtsilä is a global leader in smart technologies and complete lifecycle solutions for the marine and energy markets. By emphasizing sustainable innovation, total efficiency, and data analytics, Wärtsilä maximizes the environmental and economic performance of the vessels and power plants of its customers. In 2017, Wärtsilä’s net sales totaled EUR 4.9 billion with approximately 18,000 employees. The company has operations in over 200 locations in more than 80 countries around the world. Wärtsilä is listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. www.wartsila.com
Sources: Transas News and Wärtsilä Media