Irvine-based FieldCentrix Inc. has another suitor.
Horsham, Pa.-based Astea International Inc., a software management company, said Thursday it bought FieldCentrix for $3.3 million in stock.
FieldCentrix could get more in the sale if the company hits sales and other milestones by 2007.
Field technicians use FieldCentrix’s software to track appointments and link with dispatchers. The software maps out the addresses of workers’ next stop, among other services.
FieldCentrix’s previous sale didn’t go too well.
In 2002, a unit of Houston-based Enron Corp. acquired the company just as Enron became mired in an accounting scandal.
The Enron unit later became Linc Group. But, after more than a year of prying itself from the failed energy company, FieldCentrix wound up back in the hands of its original venture backers as well as those that took part in the company’s recent funding round.
FieldCentrix’s major customers include Morristown, N.J.-based Honeywell Inc. and Danbury, Conn.-based Praxair Inc.
Astea, a developer of service-management software, said the boards of both companies approved the deal, which closed Wednesday.
FieldCentrix will give Astea expertise in mobility and emerging mobile technologies and provide its customers new ways to update and streamline service units, which typically support hundreds of remote locations and mobile technical teams.
Astea’s stock dropped 3.6% in trading.
