A Swedish company has agreed to acquire Tucson-based Mintec Inc., a maker of management and modeling software for the mining industry.
Terms of the purchase by Hexagon AB, a global provider of design, measurement and visualization technologies, were not disclosed. The companies said they expect the deal to close by June.
Mintec, co-founded by chairman Fred Banfield in his Tucson home in 1970, provides a comprehensive suite of modeling and mine-planning software under the flagship MineSight brand.
Mintec has 232 employees, including more than 100 at its headquarters at 3544 E. Fort Lowell Road. The company has branch offices in Mexico, Canada, Peru, Chile, Australia, South Africa and London.
The addition of Mintec’s planning and scheduling software capabilities will allow Hexagon to offer a comprehensive range of products and services over the life of a mine, Hexagon President and CEO Ola Rollén said in prepared remarks.
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Hexagon already offers an array of mining products as parent of companies including Leica Geosystems, Devex, SAFEmine and Intergraph.
Hexagon is no stranger to the cadre of mining engineering and technology companies that call the Tucson area home.
In 2007, the Swedish company acquired Tucson-founded Jigsaw Technologies, another mining software provider, and brought the local operation under Leica Geosystems.
Mintec Chairman Banfield said he sees “enormous synergy” in Hexagon’s acquisition of his company.
Mintec’s customers include major mining companies around the world, including Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, Canada’s Teck Coal, Rio Tinto, Codelco and Tucson-based Asarco.
Last year, Mintec won a President’s E-Award for Exports, the highest honor any U.S. company can get for “making a significant contribution to the expansion of exports.” Mintec was the only Arizona company to win the award last year, among 57 awardees in 22 states.