This article was written by Budd McLaughlin of the The Huntsville (Alabama) Times Published: Sunday, November 14, 2010, 7:32 AM
-------------
HUNTSVILLE, AL -- When Hexagon first started looking at Intergraph about six years ago, there was one thing that caught the eye of CEO Ola Rollen ... well, maybe there were 5,000 that caught his eye.
5,000 employees, that is.
"It's all about the people," Rollen said. "Intergraph is a great company with great people."
The Stockholm-based company acquired Intergraph in July, and the $2.125 billion deal closed last month. Hexagon has 11,000 employees in 42 countries; of Intergraph's 5,000 employees, about 1,200 are in Huntsville.
A veteran of more than 70 acquisitions, Rollen said this one was "fantastic."
Hexagon is a measurement-technology and systems company, and its combination with Intergraph's highly regarded engineering software is expected to help customers make better and faster decisions.
"We've gotten positive (feedback) from industry analysts," he said. "They could see the foresightedness. ... We're one step ahead (of the competition)."
Unlike a lot of mergers and acquisitions in which the smaller company becomes a subsidiary or division of the larger company, Rollen said there are no plans to drop the Intergraph brand.
He is CEO of Intergraph, succeeding Halsey Wise. Meanwhile, Intergraph's two divisions - Process, Power & Marine and Security, Government & Infrastructure - will continue to operate under the leadership of Gerhard Sallinger and John Graham.
"Intergraph is a strong brand," Rollen said. "It would be foolish to change it. In the industry, people see Intergraph as it's related to the product. I don't see a need to promote Hexagon.
"Why (drop) something we think is good? That's stupid."
He also sees Intergraph continuing to grow and Hexagon benefiting from that growth. Hexagon's vision is to be a market leader, ranking number one or number two in each strategic business in order to generate growth and shareholder value.
The company's strategy is to be the most cost-efficient and innovative supplier, have the best management skills in the business, and have short and rapid decision processes.
Intergraph's solutions, meanwhile, help its customers design, build and operate more efficient plants, ships and offshore facilities, create intelligent maps, protect critical infrastructure and provide security for hundreds of millions of people around the world.
"There are all good intentions when you acquire a company," he said. "Sometimes, they forget why they acquired a company. We think Intergraph is a great company, and we evaluated it against the competition.
"I have a positive outlook for the business. We'll continue to grow Intergraph internationally and have a good footprint."
The company's Process, Power & Marine division will be particularly important in the future, he said.
"Four billion people are joining the global economy, and there will be an increased need for energy," he said. "It will be more and more important how we extract energy. Intergraph has the technologies to do that safely."
However, with his positive outlook, Rollen sees a downside to Intergraph's success, particularly with the Security, Government & Infrastructure division.
"Unfortunately, if you look at the (world events), Intergraph technologies have become more and more important," he said. "With al-Qaida (and other terrorist groups), public safety is most important.
"It requires more technology and more intelligence."
Rollen makes his home in London and said Huntsville was "a pleasant surprise."
He didn't have any preconceived images of the Rocket City, as much as he did of the state, but he called it "quite a fascinating city with an educated work force."
Rollen also reiterated that there were no plans for him to implement any changes because of the acquisition.
"Every acquisition is unique," he said. "You need to understand the people and you need to listen a lot.
"In general, the best we could do is if we don't notice any change at all. That's when we've succeeded."
No comments:
Post a Comment