Dover acquires software provider to waste, recycling industry

Dover Corp., headquartered in Downers Grove, Illinois, has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire So. Cal. Soft-Pak Inc., a San Diego-based software provider to the waste and recycling fleet industry. So. Cal. Soft-Pak offers integrated back-office, route management and customer relationship management software solutions. 

According to a news release from Dover, Soft-Pak has a 30-year track record of serving hundreds of waste and recycling fleets nationwide with software solutions tailored to the fleet customers’ unique needs. In 2014, the company launched a  Mobile-Pak in-cab connected tablet solution, which includes real-time GPS tracking, route management in real-time and various functionalities allowing integration of moving fleet into the hauler’s back office.

Following the close of the transaction, Dover reports that Soft-Pak will become part of its Environmental Solutions Group business unit, a supplier of waste handling solutions to the North American waste and recycling industry in Dover’s Engineered Products segment. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2020. 

The acquisition enhances Dover’s Environmental Solutions Group’s digital offerings centered around connected refuse vehicle and productivity-enhancing solutions, Dover says. Further integration between a fleet’s mobile assets, customer management and back-office operations will position the company’s Environmental Solutions Group to deliver an industry-leading integrated offering for the refuse vehicles. 

“We are excited to bring together Soft-Pak’s well-recognized industry-specific software solutions and [Environmental Solutions Group’s] growing software and digital portfolio. We believe the integrated solutions will drive growth of [the Environmental Solutions Group’s] core refuse vehicle offering and associated software and deliver tangible value-add to our waste and recycling industry customers,” says Richard J. Tobin, Dover president and chief executive officer. “This transaction is another building block in Dover’s capital deployment strategy that emphasizes investments in attractive close-to-core markets that offer potential for sustainable, profitable growth and where our team can create value for our shareholders.”

According to Dover, the company expects this acquisition to be accretive to the growth and margin profile of Environmental Solutions Group and Dover and to achieve double-digit return on capital in three years.