Ringwood: Sonar technology company Echopilot to sell IP by online auction
Innovative British marine technology company Echopilot Marine Electronics (Echopilot), pioneer of 3D Forward Looking Sonar, is to offer its intellectual property for sale later this month via an online auction.
Echopilot directors and shareholders Mike and Susan Philips have called the auction to identify an acquirer for the company’s intellectual property, patents, technical documentation and customer lists. They expressly want to identify an acquirer who can develop and market the 3D Forward Looking Sonar, both technically and in terms of its market penetration.
Based in Ringwood, Hampshire, Echopilot, which has a long heritage in marine innovation, was founded in 1969 by Harold Whitfield, one of the original pioneers of radar technology. Mike and Susan Phillips have developed the company further, achieving many 'firsts' over the years: microprocessors in marine instruments (1981), real time Forward Sonar (patented in 1992), and now the 3D real time Forward Looking Sonar, which was patented in 2014.
In a testament to its innovation, design and manufacturing capability, the company launched the world’s first real-time Forward Looking Sonar in 1992, which quickly sold into most marine leisure markets around the world.
“After 40 years at the forefront of innovation in marine electronics, we feel retirement beckons. We are keen to find successors that will further develop our unique 3D Forward Sonar in ways we can only dream of today," commented Susan Philips.
In its 45th year, Echopilot is renowned for its track record of innovation, having created over 45 different models of marine instrument, and with total sales in excess of 140,000 units. From the late 1980s the company’s products were standard equipment on most new marine builds in the UK. Today Echopilot’s life-saving devices are widely fitted by yacht and commercial boat builders, and utilised on lifeboats.
The online auction, opened on June 8 and facilitated by Kingsclere-based BCMS, represents unprecedented opportunity for an investor to acquire a respected British heritage brand, and world-leading product range.
Further information is available at www.forwardsonar.com or by contacting Phil Oxford of BCMS at [email protected]
