At NRF Conference, March Networks Announces a Buy in Retail Sector

June 6, 2006
Digital video company signs agreement to acquire Trax Retail Solutions, maker of store operations and LP software

March Networks, a Canadian company specializing in IP digital video solutions is getting into the world of retail operations software. That's the word today from the National Retail Federation's Loss Prevention conference, which started today in Minneapolis.

The agreement, which is expected to close this month, would allow March to buy Trax for $7.5 million, plus an unspecified earn-out component. March Networks will pay out an initial $5 million in cash, and the company will have the option to pay the remaining sum in cash or in common shares.

The purchase would allow for a direct integration of March Network's IP video recording and management tools with Trax's store reporting and shrink-control software. The integration of those systems has been a key cornerstone of ROI in the retail sector, with many end users from the operations side of the business investing in video surveillance because of its implications to prevent register fraud that can occur during POS transactions.

In fact, Trax had already developed and has been marketing its ShrinkTrax LP system to interface with digital video and allow camera footage to be linked with suspect POS transactions.

In announcing the acquisition, March Network's President Peter Strom said the acquisition helps create a company with a "compelling offer for progressive retailers looking to improve their bottom line." He added that bringing Trax into the March Networks fold was part of an overall company growth to get beyond simply selling security systems, and instead be able to market toward "video-based business optimization solutions."

March Networks has put a preliminary report about how the March Networks and Trax solutions can work together on their website at www.marchnetworks.com/news/marchnetworkstrax1.pdf.