Trimble Acquires Plancal in Switzerland to Expand Its Global Presence in the MEP Market

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Jan. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB) announced today that it has acquired privately-held Plancal of Horgen, Switzerland, a leading 3D CAD/CAE and ERP software provider for the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) industries in western Europe. The acquisition of Plancal broadens Trimble's industry leading BIM to Field solutions for MEP and HVAC contractors to automate project estimating and management, modeling, detailing, layout and construction. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is a process being rapidly adopted by the world's construction, engineering, and architectural communities to produce, communicate and analyze building models. Trimble's BIM focus is on the deployment of integrated solutions for the contracting community, with enhanced use further in the construction process including BIM to Field. Trimble's BIM to Field vision extends the design data created in the office down to field level systems for precise delivery of design and construction elements. The result is a more efficient and accurate project, enabled through the collaboration of the project's trade groups, and interconnected through the use of office and field tools.

The integration of Plancal's software solutions with Trimble's building construction estimating, project management and BIM to Field solutions will enable a compelling set of dedicated MEP workflows and productivity solutions for contractors.

Plancal's software products include NOVA and SNAP/GO. NOVA is a 3D CAD/CAE software solution which integrates design, drawing and engineering calculation/analysis through a proprietary CAD-core. SNAP/GO is an ERP application which includes a wide range of solutions for tenders, scheduling, costs, invoicing, employee and salary administration as well as accounts receivable management.

"With the addition of Plancal, Trimble continues to reinforce its goal of providing a complete portfolio of building construction solutions while strengthening our commitment to meet the unique needs of the European MEP market. Plancal's strength lies in its ability to offer localized construction software applications and provide users with intuitive work processes for optimal efficiency and productivity in the office," said Chris Gibson, vice president of Trimble. "Plancal also provides Trimble an expanded channel in Europe to offer its MEP field layout and project lifecycle management solutions."

"Plancal provides a core competency in CAD/CAE and ERP software to augment Trimble's portfolio of solutions for the European HVAC, mechanical and plumbing contractor," said Dominik Ruedi, CEO of Plancal. "The acquisition reinforces our best-in-class technologies and provides us access to Trimble's resources to offer our solutions on a more global basis. Together with Trimble we will continue to develop enhanced BIM solutions to enable better collaboration between our customers and their clients."

The Plancal business will be reported as part of Trimble's Engineering and Construction segment.

About Plancal

Founded in 1980, Plancal of Horgen, Switzerland, develops and markets software solutions for the Mechanical and HVAC trades. The solutions are tailored to meet the industry- and country-specific standards and practices as well as the workflow methods of engineers, designers and installers.

Plancal has development sites in Bonn, Germany and Horgen, Switzerland as well as regional sales and service organizations in Switzerland (Plancal AG in Horgen near Zurich and Plancal SA, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne), in Germany (Plancal GmbH, Bonn with sales and support offices in Munich, Stuttgart, Berlin, Hamburg), in Austria (Plancal GmbH, Amstetten) and in France (Plancal SARL, Lyon).

For more information, visit:  www.plancal.com or www.plancal.ch.

About Trimble's Building Construction Business

Trimble's Building Construction Division is a leading innovator of productivity solutions for the building construction contractor. Trimble's solutions target site prep, general, concrete, mechanical, electrical, and plumbing contractors on large and small commercial, industrial and residential jobsites. Trimble is focused on delivering solutions that tightly link office based process and information with the field crew—including taking Building Information Modeling (BIM) and other design data to the field for highly accurate positioning and layout of foundations and mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems. Trimble solutions provide a high-level of process and workflow integration from the design phase through to the finished project—delivering significant improvements in productivity throughout the building construction lifecycle.

About Trimble

Trimble applies technology to make field and mobile workers in businesses and government significantly more productive. Solutions are focused on applications requiring position or location--including surveying, construction, agriculture, fleet and asset management, public safety and mapping. In addition to utilizing positioning technologies, such as GPS, lasers and optics, Trimble solutions may include software content specific to the needs of the user. Wireless technologies are utilized to deliver the solution to the user and to ensure a tight coupling of the field and the back office. Founded in 1978, Trimble is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif. 

For more information, visit Trimble's Web site at www.trimble.com.

Certain statements made in this press release are forward looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve risks and uncertainties, and actual events and results may differ materially from those described in this news release. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: Trimble's ability to successfully integrate Plancal's software solutions with Trimble's building construction estimating, project management and BIM to Field solutions; and Trimble's ability to continue to develop and provide enhanced BIM solutions worldwide that clients in the construction industry will adopt. Additional risks and uncertainties include: the risks inherent in integrating an acquisition; unanticipated expenditures, charges or assumed liabilities that may result from the acquisition; and retaining key personnel and commercial relationships. Information about potential factors which could affect Trimble's business and financial results is set forth in reports filed with the SEC, including Trimble's quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and its annual report on Form 10-K. All forward looking statements are based on information available to Trimble as of the date hereof, and Trimble assumes no obligation to update such statements.

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SOURCE Trimble