TransAct Technologies Inc. agreed to pay at least $4 million for a tiny San Diego printer-maker whose rugged hardware is used primarily in the oilpatch.
Printrex’s printers also are used in the medical industry, officials said. The deal is slated to close in the third quarter.
Mounted aboard oilfield trucks, Printrex printers attached to other equipment spit out data on drill depths, temperatures, viscosity and other information vital to petroleum exploration.
TransAct Chairman and CEO Bart C. Shuldman said Printrex will put his company centermost in the expanding global market for oil-and-gas drilling services and equipment.
However, Shuldman suggested in a statement Wednesday announcing the deal, that TransAct’s eyes are on applying Printrex’s engineering and technology to newer markets.
Currently, TransAct’s core market is assembling and selling printers mounted to retail sales terminals and atop slot machines at Connecticut’s casinos that dispense frequent-buyer-player promotion coupons redeemable for merchandise and other items.
TransAct’s annual sales are many times greater than those of Printrex’s $5.4 million, however, Printrex has a higher operating margin than TransAct, officials said.
