Raven Industries, Inc. (the Company; NASDAQ:RAVN)
announced today that it has acquired Smart Ag Inc., a technology
company that develops autonomous farming solutions for agriculture.
This acquisition is part of Raven Autonomy™, the Company’s
strategic growth platform to become the industry leader in
autonomous agriculture solutions, announced earlier this week.
Complementing the Company’s Applied Technology division, a leading
technology provider in the precision agriculture industry, this
acquisition will be integrated into the division’s business and
technology portfolio with the intent to create autonomous solutions
for the precision ag market.
“The acquisition of Smart Ag is part of a bold, company-wide
strategy for Raven,” commented Dan Rykhus, Raven Industries
President and CEO. “It is a key investment in Raven Autonomy™, one
of our two strategic growth platforms. Autonomy in agriculture is
the future of farming, and this acquisition, coupled with our
existing precision agriculture solutions, solidifies our position
as a technology leader within this market.”
As part of Raven Autonomy™, the Company plans to deliver
autonomous solutions for agriculture that will enable both its OEM
partners and ag retailers to be successful. Now more than ever,
OEMs need to deliver premier precision ag solutions in order to
compete. Raven Autonomy™ will deliver on this great challenge; its
technology will enable large-scale ag retailers to augment their
operations, allocate resources smartly and reduce labor dependency.
Along with the Company’s recent agreement to acquire majority
ownership in DOT Technology Corp., the acquisition of Smart Ag
brings perception and path planning capabilities to the Company’s
leading technologies in precision ag operations.
Smart Ag, headquartered in Ames, Ia., was founded in 2015 to
solve the growing labor crisis in production agriculture. Today,
Smart Ag is offering aftermarket retrofit kits to automate farm
equipment as well as a platform to connect, manage and safely
operate autonomous agricultural machinery. Smart Ag’s technology
stack is easy to use and modular for scalability. In addition to
its proven, proprietary technology, Smart Ag brings an established
dealer network and a skilled development team to Raven.
“Raven’s experience in machine and application control is a
perfect complement to the autonomous machine control developed by
Smart Ag,” said Brian Meyer, Division Vice President of Raven
Applied Technology. “Together, the expertise of both companies will
allow for more operations to be performed in-field — with a
significant increase in both performance and outputs. By automating
existing machine platforms and implements, driverless machines have
great potential to complement the work of manned machine operations
in the field.”
About Raven Industries,
Inc.Raven Industries (NASDAQ: RAVN) is dedicated
to providing innovative, high-value products and solutions that
solve great challenges throughout the world. Raven is a leader in
precision agriculture, high-performance specialty films, and
lighter-than-air technologies. Since 1956, Raven has designed,
produced, and delivered exceptional solutions, earning the company
a reputation for innovation, product quality, high performance, and
unmatched service. For more information, visit
http://ravenind.com.
About Raven Applied
TechnologyRaven Applied Technology is helping
feed a growing population by delivering impactful technology that
improves agricultural efficiency for custom applicators and growers
around the world. From field computers to sprayer and planter
controls, GPS guidance steering systems, wireless and logistics
technology, Raven provides precision agriculture products and
solutions designed to reduce operating costs and improve yields.
Learn more at http://ravenprecision.com.
About Smart Ag Inc.Smart Ag
was founded with the vision of becoming the autonomous farming
platform of choice in a driverless future. Over the last three
years, the company has released systems across the country,
enabling completely driverless operation of machinery to improve
harvest labor efficiency. With the combination of extensive on-farm
testing, industry leading talent and innovative design, Smart Ag
has developed a cutting-edge automation platform which incorporates
machine learning, advanced vehicle navigation, and robust wireless
communication technology. Learn more at
http://www.smart-ag.com.
Forward-Looking StatementsThis
news release contains “forward-looking statements” within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended,
including statements regarding the expectations, beliefs,
intentions or strategies regarding the future. The Company intends
that all forward-looking statements be subject to the safe harbor
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act.
Generally, forward-looking statements can be identified by words
such as “may,” “will,” “plan,” “believe,” “expect,” “intend,”
“anticipate,” “potential,” “should,” “estimate,” “predict,”
“project,” “would,” and similar expressions, which are generally
not historical in nature. However, the absence of these words or
similar expressions does not mean that a statement is not
forward-looking. All statements that address operating performance,
events or developments that we expect or anticipate will occur in
the future – including statements relating to our future operating
or financial performance or events, our strategy, goals, plans and
projections regarding our financial position, our liquidity and
capital resources, and our product development – are
forward-looking statements.
Management believes that these forward-looking statements are
reasonable as and when made. However, caution should be taken not
to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements
because such statements speak only as of the date when made. Our
Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise, except as required by law. In addition,
forward-looking statements are subject to certain known risks, as
described in the Company’s 10-K under Item 1A, and unknown risks
and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ
materially from our Company’s historical experience and our present
expectations or projections.
Contact InformationBo Larsen,
Director of Investor RelationsMargaret Carmody, Director of
Corporate CommunicationsRaven Industries+1 (605) 336-2750
Source: Raven Industries
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