Houston Ventures And Palmetto Partners Invest In Geoforce

DALLAS and HOUSTON, Sept. 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Geoforce, Inc. (www.geoforce.com), an international provider of asset tracking solutions for the oil and gas industry, announced it has received a significant growth equity investment from Houston Ventures and Palmetto Partners ("Palmetto").   Following the transaction, which closed on August 28, 2013, Houston Ventures and Palmetto became minority shareholders in Geoforce.  Both firms also received representation on Geoforce's Board of Directors.

The capital will support Geoforce's continued growth, which has averaged nearly 100% per year over the past five years.  Geoforce's first international subsidiary, Geoforce do Brasil, was launched earlier in 2013, and is already a leading force in the offshore Brazil market.  The company plans to significantly expand its international operations to serve the global oil and gas industry, with an immediate focus on Asia-Pacific and Europe, and other locations to follow.  A portion of the funds will also be used to enlarge Geoforce's product development team – as well as grow its multi-national sales, marketing and customer support efforts.

"Throughout our history, we have regularly been approached by prospective investment partners who recognized the potential of Geoforce's market and the strength of our business model.  However, we never felt the need to take institutional equity investments, since we funded our previous growth organically," said Vincent Hsieh, CFO of Geoforce.  "That changed when we began talking to Houston Ventures and Palmetto."

"In Houston Ventures we have a partner that has a successful track record with oil and gas technology companies and which shares our vision to make field operations more efficient, more transparent, and more profitable.  Together we understand the difficulties our customers face in managing large fleets of owned and rental field equipment," said James MacLean, III, President and CEO of Geoforce.   "This partnership fuels our growth both in the U.S. and internationally, and builds on our reputation as the premier provider of oilfield equipment tracking solutions." 

"The key to success for any technology company serving the energy industry is an understanding that these customers have a remarkably different set of vendor expectations.  What counts as proper execution in oil and gas is simply a different standard. We believe Geoforce understands this based on the profile of their customers and what that says about the company and management," said Charles L. (Chip) Davis, Managing Partner of Houston Ventures.   "Geoforce is a perfect fit with our investment strategy of applying technology to solve high level operating problems in the energy industry."  

Houston Ventures was a financial backer of other global oil and gas technology companies such as RigNet, Syntex Management Systems, acquired by IHS, and LiquidFrameworks.

About Geoforce, Inc.

Geoforce's equipment asset tracking & utilization solutions are built for the unique requirements of the oil and gas industry.  The company provides operational support services in all of the key North American Shale basins, the Gulf of Mexico, and numerous international producing regions.  Geoforce has deployments on six continents with over 300 companies.  Their customers include many of the international super major operating companies, most of the major international oilfield services companies, as well as hundreds of mid-size and regionally-focused O&G operators, service providers, and equipment rental companies.

Geoforce's intuitive, reliable and scalable solutions – developed through extensive oil and gas industry experience – include: efficient asset location and retrieval, rental invoice auditing, service delivery verification, inspection compliance, equipment maintenance alerts, and a host of others.  Many O&G companies consider Geoforce to be a key operating partner, due to the depth of its industry focused solutions, which has resulted in Geoforce having the largest satellite asset tracking deployment in the oilfield.

Geoforce is headquartered near Dallas/Fort Worth international airport, with research and development offices in Bozeman, Montana.  Geoforce do Brasil is located in Macae, Brazil.

About Houston Ventures

Houston Ventures is a Houston-based investment firm focused on the Energy sector.  The firm focuses on technology opportunities that solve operational problems in the energy and power industries. These technologies often are used in other industries to drive incremental revenue or deliver cost reductions, but have not made the transition to the energy and power sectors.  More information may be found at www.houven.com.

About Palmetto Partners

Palmetto Partners is the private equity investment entity of The McNair Group.  The McNair Group is a Houston-based investment firm with a diversified portfolio of public and private equity interests.  Many of The McNair Group's investments are focused on the energy and real estate sectors.

Media contact:
Chelsea Nivens
[email protected]

Media contact (Houston Ventures)
Charles L. (Chip) Davis
[email protected]

SOURCE Geoforce, Inc.

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