The Rebirth of Ashtech

January 6, 2010 By: Eric Gakstatter

Magellan Professional Changes Name

Magellan Professional has reclaimed the Ashtech name, which was started 23 years ago. According to Magellan Professional, an announcement is forthcoming within a week.

Ashtech was formed in 1987 by Javad Ashjaee after a stint at Trimble Navigation. Ashtech went on a strong 10-year run producing a number of leading edge GPS dual=frequency and single-frequency GPS receivers for professional users. During that time, Ashtech was also a pioneer in developing GPS/GLONASS receivers.

In 1997, Ashtech was bought by Magellan Systems Corp., a pioneer in consumer handheld GPS receivers. The company became the first to have a professional and consumer GPS product line-up. By this time, Ashjaee was no longer with the company and it was being run with a different mentality (think John Scully and Apple Computers).

In 2001. Magellan Systems Corp. was acquired by French conglomerate Thales. Thales folded Magellan Corp. in with their existing Thales Navigation group. The existing Thales Navigation group consisted of Sercel, Dassault Electronique and two Thomson-CSF subsidiaries.

At that time, products were branded Thales Navigation and the Ashtech brand name disappeared.

The original Ashtech group floundered under Thales' ownership.

In 2006, Thales Navigation was acquired by a group of equity investors led by Shah Capital, who renamed the company Magellan. This included both the consumer GPS group and professional GPS group.

Under new ownership, Magellan Professional mounted a comeback by introducing a leading-edge multi-constellation GNSS receiver product line.

In early 2009, MiTAC acquired Magellan GPS (consumer GPS group) from Shah Capital. As part of the agreement, the professional group temporarily assumed the name Magellan Professional with the understanding they would discontinue using the Magellan brand name after a certain period of time.

In January 2010, Magellan Professional formally changes its name to Ashtech. The company has offices in California, France, and Moscow.