Hansen Buys Spear Technologies

By Ethan Butterfield for Washington Technology

April 20, 2006 (San Francisco, CA) — Hansen Information Technologies has acquired Spear Technologies Inc., a company that specializes in asset-management solutions for public transit and rail markets.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Investors provided the financing, among them the $2.6 billion private equity firm Golden Gate Capital, according to a statement from Rancho Cordova, Calif.-based Hansen.

Spear will be re-named as Hansen’s new Transit and Rail Business Unit, and will support its own dedicated global sales, product management, project delivery, application development and training resources, according to a statement from Hansen.

Spear Technologies’ solutions support maintenance of the New York City Transit, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority, Dallas Area Rapid Transit and San Francisco Municipal Railway transit systems.

The addition of San Francisco-based Spear Technologies expands Hansen’s ability to integrate, streamline and manage the design, permitting, construction, operation, maintenance and revenue cycle of public assets, said Hansen Chairman and CEO Chuck Hansen in a statement. Hansen said that fixed assets often represent more than 70 percent of a government’s total assets.

Spear’s solutions offer increased asset use, enhanced workforce productivity, improved safety, reduced inventory levels and increased return on assets, according to a Hansen statement.

By teaming with Hansen, Spear Technologies can expand its presence in the midsize public transit and international rail markets, said Mike Thomas, Spear founder and chairman, in a statement.

Hansen, a privately held company that offers Web-based software solutions for a variety of business functions, has about 250 employees.