Trimble Acquires Assets of RainWave and Hydro-Engineering to Extend its Connected Farm Solution

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Aug 27, 2013, 06:33 ET

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Aug. 27, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB) announced today that it has acquired the assets of privately-held RainWave, LLC and Hydro-Engineering Solutions, LLC of Auburn, Ala. The acquisitions will help to extend the monitoring and reporting capabilities of Trimble's Connected Farm™ solution and strengthen its water management expertise. Financial terms were not disclosed.

RainWave provides precipitation monitoring services for agribusiness, construction and engineering, government and consumer industries. RainWave will be part of the Connected Farm solution, which simplifies and integrates operations management by providing information exchange across the entire farm. This RainWave service will provide farmers across the U.S. with vital rainfall data they can use to better manage their crop production.

Using RainWave, farmers can set up a virtual rain gauge by entering GPS coordinates for identified locations to receive a rainfall report for those locations. Since on-site rain gauges are not needed, farmers no longer need to monitor dispersed gauges or manually track precipitation. The farmer will now be able to obtain this rainfall information through their Connected Farm dashboard. RainWave's convenient, accurate rainfall information allows farmers to make better management decisions by optimizing irrigation plans and application timing, and comparing yield against rainfall to plan for next season's crop. This results in savings of time and water usage.

Hydro-Engineering Solutions is a civil engineering company that specializes in hydrology and hydraulics. The company provides high-quality engineering services to federal, state and local governments as well as commercial entities, and has extensive experience with streams and rivers. Hydro-Engineering's expertise in hydrology and hydraulics modeling is expected to strengthen Trimble's water management solution in watershed analysis for both drainage and irrigation.

"Acquiring RainWave's assets further strengthens the Connected Farm solution by adding a critical rainfall monitoring and reporting tool that's easily accessible through the Connected Farm dashboard, in addition to the current rainfall email alerts," said Joe Denniston, vice president of Trimble's Agriculture Division. "Farmers will be able to view their fleet, field and rainfall data all in one convenient location, enabling them to make informed decisions based on the latest data. In addition, with Hydro-Engineering we can now provide stronger watershed analysis to help farmers create better water management plans for their fields."

"Trimble's acquisition of RainWave and Hydro-Engineering is ideal because it brings a cutting-edge technology to an established customer base that's in need of vital data," said John Curry, founder and chief technology officer for RainWave, and president of Hydro-Engineering Solutions. "Our hydrology and hydraulics expertise will deepen Trimble's water management skillset, while our rainfall technology provides Trimble's customers with a monitoring solution that can increase efficiency, convenience and productivity."

About RainWave
Founded in 2008, RainWave provides precipitation monitoring services for agribusiness, construction and engineering, government services and consumer services. For agribusiness, RainWave provides daily rain totals via email for each farmer site specified, as well as a monthly summary report. For construction and engineering, the company monitors rainfall 24/7 to help ensure rainfall doesn't exceed the regulatory threshold. RainWave uses proprietary software and a network of Doppler radar sites to cover the U.S. with high-quality precipitation monitoring services. In addition, consumers interested in rainfall figures can sign up for RainWave to stay up-to-date on rainfall for their selected site. http://www.rainwave.org/

About Hydro-Engineering Solutions
Founded in 1999, Hydro-Engineering Solutions, LLC is a civil engineering company that specializes in hydraulics and hydrology. The company provides highly technical engineering services to federal, state and local governments as well as private entities, and has extensive experience with streams, rivers and watersheds. Hydro-Engineering is an experienced leader in the water resources field.

About Trimble's Agriculture Division
Trimble's Agriculture Division is a leader in precision agriculture, GPS and guidance solutions that help customers operate farm vehicles and implements more efficiently, save on input costs and increase yield and productivity. To ensure better decision making, Trimble offers an integrated operations management solution called Connected Farm that provides information exchange across the entire farm using industry-leading software and hardware. Additional Trimble solutions include vehicle and implement guidance and steering; application control for seed, liquid and granular products; laser- and GPS-based water management technology; and a harvest solution.

For more information on Trimble Agriculture, visit: www.trimble.com/agriculture.

About Trimble
Trimble applies technology to make field and mobile workers in businesses and government significantly more productive. Solutions are focused on applications requiring position or location—including surveying, construction, agriculture, fleet and asset management, public safety and mapping. In addition to utilizing positioning technologies, such as GPS, lasers and optics, Trimble solutions may include software content specific to the needs of the user. Wireless technologies are utilized to deliver the solution to the user and to ensure a tight coupling of the field and the back office. Founded in 1978, Trimble is headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif.

For more information, visit: www.trimble.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements regarding the business operations and prospects of Trimble, including the impact of the asset acquisitions on Trimble's Agriculture Division's Connected Farm solution. These forward-looking statements are subject to change, and actual results may materially differ due to certain risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause or contribute to changes in such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to (i) realizing the anticipated benefits of the acquisitions, (iii) Trimble's ability to successfully integrate RainWave's precipitation monitoring services with Trimble's Connected Farm solution and strengthen its watershed analysis capabilities through the Hydro-Engineering acquisition, and (iv) the risks and uncertainties associated with unexpected expenditures or assumed liabilities that may be incurred as a result of the acquisitions and retaining key personnel, customers, and commercial relationships. More information about potential factors which could affect Trimble's business and financial results is set forth in reports filed with the SEC, including Trimble's quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and its annual report on Form 10-K. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to Trimble as of the date hereof, and Trimble assumes no obligation to update such statements.

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