Hypercom
on the Horizon
Hypercom Corporation has
acquired The Horizon Group, Inc., one of the industry's leading
providers of value-added, point-of-sale support services. The
seven-year-old Horizon will retain its current management structure
and corporate identity; Horizon's founder, Ken Boody will remain CEO.
Horizon will be operated by Hypercom as an independent subsidiary
with sales, distribution, and support operations remaining in St.
Louis, Missouri.
"The Horizon Group's
acquisition represents an important milestone in the company's
history," said Boody. "Since we will be retaining our own identity
and management structure, our customers will see only an enhancement
to the already robust capability that they currently
enjoy."
As many Green Sheet
readers know, The Horizon Group is a national distributor of a
variety of POS manufacturers' equipment, including Hypercom. They
were the first in the industry to develop same-day shipping, as well
as deployment and on-line warranty and repair tracking. In addition
to sales of new equipment, the 66 employee-strong Horizon also
provides refurbishing, help desk support, PIN pad key loading,
terminal deployment, and custom parts. Horizon reported $24 million
in sales in 1997, $5 million of which was for Hypercom
products.
Hypercom hopes the
acquisition will help them meet the needs of customers who require
direct-from-manufacturers terminal services. "Many large-volume
customers today require a one-stop shopping model that provides them
with efficiencies in managing the procurement and upgrading of
equipment and related software," said Al Irato, president and CEO of
Hypercom. "Moreover, the transaction represents an important
milestone in the execution of Hypercom's strategy to build recurring
revenue streamsÖ. Most important, it allows us to provide
services and supplies directly to merchants, thereby shortening the
supply chain and increasing efficiency." Hypercom reports that they
will continue to work closely with other leading
distributors.
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