Raven Industries acquires Fluent Systems for $1 million

Sioux Falls, SD; Madison, WI—Raven Industries Inc. announced that it has acquired substantially all assets of privately held Fluent Systems LLC for approximately $1 million in cash.

By Control Engineering Staff December 30, 2003

Sioux Falls, SD; Madison, WI— Raven Industries Inc. announced that it has acquired substantially all assets of privately held Fluent Systems LLC for approximately $1 million in cash. ‘The acquisition will expand our leadership position in precision agriculture, and help grow our Flow Controls Division (FCD),’ says Ronald Moquist, Raven’s president and CEO.

A small, start-up company, Fluent has developed a reportedly unique wireless liquid level monitoring system used with anhydrous ammonia tanks. The monitor uses wireless technology to instantly transmit tank volume to an electronic receiver in the cab of a tractor. This allows users to quickly track how much product is in the tank without getting out of the tractor to check the actual tank gauge.

Fluent’s product line will be marketed by Raven’s FCD. The acquisition of this new technology is expected to complement FCD’s existing line of flow control products. ‘As a new start-up product line, it is not expected to have a significant impact on our results before the 2005 growing season,’ Moquist adds.

Dan Rykhus, FCD’s general manager, adds that, ‘Raven is committed to precision agriculture, and providing new products to fit the needs of the marketplace. Acquiring Fluent Systems will allow us to expand this initiative, and find new niches for control technology that will help growers be more efficient.’ In addition, he says wireless technology has many applications in agriculture, and that, ‘We expect to incorporate wider use of this technology throughout our entire product line.’

Control Engineering Daily News DeskJim Montague, news editorjmontague@reedbusiness.com