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Technology Stocks : Trimble Navigation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: David who wrote (2705)	8/20/1998 5:58:00 PM
From: arun gera	Respond to of 3506

Jim Sorden, last of the old guard. He holds a chunk of the stock/stock options though. If he sells or is required to sell after leaving Trimble, it will be like a mutual fund selling. Here is an older post on this subject... Message 5254904

To: David who wrote (2705)	8/20/1998 6:15:00 PM
From: arun gera	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3506

David: Very confusing indeed. A strong shareholder/partner (Honeywell??) is playing hard-ball now. We will know who it is by the announcement of a new member to the Board of Directors. The new member would most likely be a rep (or approved by) the shareholder/partner that is playing tough. Mike Gagliardi, the VP of aeronautical is still around after all the manufacturing problems. Cooper and Parkinson are also from the aeronautical business. Also, Trimble's recent investment in Integrenautics (a company started by Clark Cohen, former grad student under Parkinson at Stanford.) indicates interest in avionics applications. Arun

To: David who wrote (2705)	8/20/1998 6:38:00 PM
From: Hockeyfan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3506

Will the real Trimble management please stand up? Yes David, I feel much better now. The only thing good about this episode is that everybody may get shook up enough to start doing something.

To: David who wrote (2705)	8/21/1998 9:53:00 AM
From: Hockeyfan	Respond to of 3506

Charlie is saving the seed corn! I guess Charlie didn't like the board "eating the seed corn" by using capital to buy back 1 million shares. Also, TRMB must be attracting some attention as this thread is now #4 on the hot list.

To: David who wrote (2705)	8/21/1998 5:24:00 PM
From: arun gera	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3506

Takeover History in GPS business Leica bought Magnavox to improve its GPS Survey product line. Too old for current valuation. Orbital bought Magellan. Valuation about 2 times sales. Old news too. Orbital bought Ashtech. Valuation 1-1.5 times sales. (correct me about the valuation, please) Candian Marconi bought Novatel for 5 times sales. Orbital is in the space, satellite launching, and communication product business. Canadian Marconi is in the Space and Aeronautical business. For some reason, space, satellite communications, and avionics companies have shown greater interest in acquiring GPS companies than others. Add other facts - Top two directors at Trimble are from the avionics business. Think of potential acquirers from the space, avionics, and satellite communications business. Qualcomm is responsible for the infrastructure of Globalstar, a satellite voice and data service business. But unfortunately, Qualcomm's style is much different from Trimble's. Also, low cost manufacturing is not Trimble's forte. Honeywell has few products in the satellite communication market. Any others? Arun