Washington, D.C.-based conglomerate Danaher Corp. bought Vector Capital’s stake in Teletrac Inc., a Garden Grove company that makes GPS, fleet tracking, diagnostic and analytics software.
The price tag was undisclosed.
Teletrac, which has kept a low profile here, employs more than 500 people. Its Garden Grove headquarters employs about 300, placing it among the largest software makers in OC.
Danaher is expected to retain Teletrac’s workforce and top executives as Teletrac expands operations and hiring.
“We’re actually adding employees,” said Dennis Jaconi, owned-media manager at Teletrac. “We’re expanding our product road map in order to support that.”
Danaher posted a profit of nearly $2.4 billion on $18.2 billion in sales last year.
Teletrac would not disclose revenue, but San Francisco-based Vector invests in technology companies with “more than $30 million in revenue, strong customer bases and high gross profit margins,” according to its website.
Danaher’s other units in Orange County are Brea-based Beckman Coulter Inc., a maker of medical diagnostic machines and supplies; and Sybron Dental Specialties Inc., a diversified dental products maker in Orange.
Vector was in the early running for Aliso Viejo-based Quest Software last year, joining New York-based Insight Venture Partners in a bid that topped out at $2.17 billion.
Dell Inc. ultimately acquired the Aliso Viejo-based business software maker last year for $2.4 billion.
Vector also was a bidder for Santa Ana-based MSC Software Corp. but lost out to Palo Alto-based private equity firm Symphony Technology Group LLC, which took it private in 2009 in a $390 million cash deal.
Vector took Irvine-based Printronix Inc. private in a $108 million buyout in 2008.
It has long been attracted to OC tech companies because of the strong local talent base, according to Managing Partner David Fishman.
“You get world-class engineering talent, and it’s slightly less expensive than Silicon Valley,” he said. “We think there are real diamonds in the rough there.”
Startup Gets Local Money
Irvine startup Zadara Storage Inc. didn’t go far to acquire its latest funding round.
Toshiba America Electronics Components, located nearby, funded the storage device maker with a $3 million investment.
The proceeds are earmarked for sales, support and engineering, according to Zadara.
TAEC, the storage unit of Toshiba America Business Solutions Inc., is partnering with Zadara to develop storage-as-a-service products.
Zadara, which splits its operation between OC and Israel, has raised $10 million since its inception in 2011.
Toshiba America, a unit of Japan-based Toshiba Corp., has annual sales of about $1 billion.
It has a network of more than 250 resellers and a direct sales team of about 100 for its printers and other business products.
Chris Casacchia can be reached at casacchia@ocbj.com.
