Today Pitney Bowes said it is buying MapInfo for $408 million in cash. Not a big surprise as MapInfo has been undervalued for some time. It’s a great day for MapInfo stockholders, who would receive a 50% premium over yesterday’s closing price. However, its probably not such a great day for MapInfo employees who now fear for their jobs. (”Pitney Bowes anticipates that within 18 months there will be synergies in the range of $10–$15 million from elimination of public company expenses, reduction in administrative infrastructure and increased marketing leverage.“)

PB does a lot related to corporate marketing, especially around managing mail. PB has much functionality through its hardware, software, and services. I disagree with Adena at All Points Blog that Pitney Bowes is “an outsider to location intelligence and business geographics.” [Clarification on 3/18; I read it wrong - Adena referenced herself as the outsider, not PB] In 2004 it acquired Group 1 Software that has geographic analysis capabilities important to and widely used by businesses and the public sector including customer data quality, geocoding, global address cleaning, and data integration. Part of the Group 1 suite is “Business Geographics” using Centrus technology, its suite of products and services for “enterprise database marketing and GIS.” There is also a good match between the primary industries served by MapInfo and PB’s Group 1.

MapInfo is a good acquisition for PB, as it fits its objective to expand its mailstream business. Many of its customers (big names including DaimlerChrysler, Nielsen Media Research, Sears, and Verizon), are ripe for location intelligence that MapInfo provides. What remains to be seen is how MapInfo, located mostly in Troy NY will work with Group 1 with its main office in a suburb of Washington DC. While PB is the acquirer, MapInfo is clearly larger than Group 1, so it seems probable the folks in Troy would be in charge of location intelligence for PB.

The acquisition follows closely on the heals of Integraph going private, Trimble buying @Road, and other smaller acquisitions in the industry. There will be more such changes as the market acknowledges the true value of location information and analysis in business decisions.