MapFrame and GE Energy sign agreement - but whats it got to do with Smart Grids?

MapFrame Corporation announced that its shareholders and GE Energy have signed a purchase agreement enabling GE Energy to acquire MapFrame. The transaction, which is subject to customary closing conditions, is expected to close at the end of June.

Combining MapFrame's expertise with GE Energy's worldwide reach, the acquisition will offer global customers a more comprehensive product line of mobile mapping and field automation technologies, significantly enhancing the GE Energy smart grid portfolio.

"Our innovative mobile mapping and field automation technologies including our FieldSmart software are an excellent fit with GE Energy's Smallworld portfolio and other geospatial solutions," said Paul Wilson, MapFrame founder and chief executive officer. "The acquisition is extremely positive news for all our customers and provides us with significant opportunities to further our solid reputation for worldclass products and services. As with GE Energy, we are dedicated to our customers and will continue to support all current customer projects, all platforms, and all partnerships. Our unique capability to work with any technology will also not change."

Mobile mapping and field automation technologies enable utilities to boost their productivity by automating field-based business processes through a map-centric user interface.

According to Martin Ansell, general manager of GE Energy's Smallworld business, "This new, fast moving and rapidly growing technology segment is highly complementary to GE's Smallworld business and consistent with our smart grid strategy. MapFrame's employees bring a wealth of experience in mobile mapping and field automation solutions and will be a welcome addition to our Smallworld business team."