Well well well – this one comes as a bit of a shocker. An investment group called “Shah Capital Partners” (SCP) will be purchasing Thales Navigation. The new company will be called Magellan Navigation, so not much change on the name front.
Who the hell is SCP you ask? According to the press release, Shah Capital Partners is a private equity firm specializing in re-focusing technology companies and executing a strategic vision. Hmmm…. Perhaps this purchase makes more sense if you take a look at Magellan’s performance over the past few years.
Take a look at Magellan’s current market share
Four years ago Magellan owned the consumer GPS market, commanding more than 50% of market share. Today that has dwindled to 19% and falling. And Magellan's latest offerings aren't exactly flying off the shelves.
As I remarked in my review of the new Magellan RoadMate 3000T, I've always been partial to Magellan and I've always loved their wonderful UI. But I've grown frustrated with their lack of innovation in recent years, and their seeming willingness to create mediocre products.
The press release states that SCP plans "to execute aggressively on our strategy to increase our leadership in the consumer, survey, GIS and OEM markets worldwide". Sounds like maybe SCP will be the new sheriff at Magellan and maybe they'll be able to kick things back into gear and help Magellan re-claim it's crown in the consumer GPS market space. Let's keep our fingers crossed and see what happens.
SCP is a tech turnaround shop. As the new owners, SCP is definitely the "new sheriff" as Fletch puts it. Looks like Magellan, with good cash flow and a large customer base, is an ideal candidate for what SCP claims to be good at. SCP will drive some changes, improve execution and likely try to sell the company or take it public.