Current general aviation customers of DeLorme, a Yarmouth, Maine-based producer of navigation, messaging, and satellite tracking technologies, should see no change in services or subscriptions resulting from the recent acquisition of the company by Garmin, said a spokesperson.
Garmin, a global technology and electronics company with a market capitalization of $7.7 billion, announced Feb. 11 that it had entered an agreement to acquire “substantially all of the assets” of privately held DeLorme, with the transaction to close in 30 to 60 days. Terms were not disclosed.
DeLorme’s primary product for general aviation is the inReach satellite communicator, and there will be “no changes to that product line in the near future,” said Kim Stiver, Garmin’s senior manager for marketing of inReach. “All customers who currently use an inReach device will be able to use their service just as they always have, and there are currently no changes planned for the inReach airtime subscription offerings.”
Garmin said the inReach series of devices was “one of the most compelling products in the DeLorme portfolio,” citing the GPS-enabled devices’ capability to send and receive satellite text messages or trigger an SOS in an emergency.
In 2014, inReach devices were incorporated into Lockheed Martin Flight Services’ Adverse Condition Alerting and Surveillance-Enhanced Search and Rescue services, allowing pilots to sign up for in-flight alerts for hazardous weather and temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) and receive “faster initiation of search-and-rescue procedures with a greatly reduced search area,” Lockheed said at the time.
Garmin will discuss the future of the line “as we develop plans for new inReach products,” said Stiver.
