Honeywell acquires scanner and imager maker Hand Held Products

Acquisition provides Honeywell an entry into the automatic data capture market.

By Corinne Kator, Associate Editor -- Modern Materials Handling, 10/16/2007

Hand Held Products, a maker of bar code scanners and other automatic data capture (ADC) devices, announced yesterday it is being acquired by Honeywell International for approximately $390 million. Hand Held will become part of Honeywell’s Security Group within the Automation and Control Solutions business.

The combination of Hand Held and Honeywell is a natural fit, says Andrew Nathanson, who directs ADC research at Venture Development Corp. Honeywell has a good position in the industrial market and is a respected technology company, he says, and Hand Held has great potential for revenue growth.

“Hand Held has demonstrated leadership in image-based technology, which is replacing laser-based legacy products,” says Ben Cornett, president of Honeywell Security. “There’s tremendous opportunity for us with Hand Held as global demand for information increases along the supply chain; the outlook for the overall industry shows double-digit growth.”

Nathanson agrees with Cornett’s assessment of Hand Held as a leader in imaging technology: “Hand Held has a great imaging product—one of the best in the market,” he says.

The acquisition of Hand Held continues a trend of mergers and acquisitions in the ADC market. Last fall, for example, wireless communications giant Motorola acquired Symbol Technologies, and in 2005, bar code scanner maker Datalogic bought competitor PSC.

Hand Held Products is listed ninth in Modern’s most recent ranking of the Top 20 ADC suppliers.