Peek Plc has reached a conditional agreement to pay $2.5m for Clearwater, Florida-based software house Porta-printer Systems Inc, a portable data selection system supplier with a turnover of around $6m. The acquisition, to be finalised on January 12, will see Porta-printer acting as a US outlet for Husky Computer Group, the heavy-duty hand-held computer manufacturer bought by Peek some two years ago: accordingly, Porta-printer’s president, Bill Newall, will be staying on to report to Andy Faulkner, managing director of Husky. Meanwhile, Peek has simultaneously announced the disposal of two non-core businesses: fibre optic connector division Automatic Connector Inc has been sold for $1.4m, and probes and test leads distributor Test Probes Inc is to be conditionally sold for a performance-related sum of between $2m and 2.5m; both were originally acquired with Dubilier International in June 1988. All three moves, says Peek, are in line with its stated intention to concentrate its efforts on technology aimed at traffic and navigation, database management, and measurement and control.
