GeoEye buys aerial imagery firm to increase prospects

DULLES, Va. (Map, News) - Dulles-based satellite operator GeoEye has purchased aerial imagery company M.J. Harden Associates Inc. in an effort to expand its customer base.

The acquisition is the first for GeoEye, which former competitors Space Imaging and Orbimage formed when they merged in January 2006. GeoEye operates satellites that take high-resolution photographs used by both the U.S. government and commercial customers, such as Microsoft’s Virtual Earth unit.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The purchase is the first time the new company or its earlier incarnations has ventured into the aerial imagery market, GeoEye Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communications Mark Brender said.

General Electric Oil & Gas formerly owned M.J. Harden. GE will continue to own the company’s pipeline business, while GeoEye will take control of its geographic information unit, Brender said.

The move is a strategic one for GeoEye because it brings in M.J. Harden’s customers in the oil and gas industry, as well as the state and local government sectors.

GeoEye can convince those customers to purchase both satellite imagery and imagery taken by airplanes, depending on their needs, Brender said.

GeoEye’s major competitor, Longmont, Colo.-based DigitalGlobe, made its first move into the aerial market earlier this year, when it acquired mapping company GlobeXPlorer in January.

“In a lot of cases, people who use imagery don’t really care whether it was taken from a spacecraft or an aircraft,” said Chesapeake Analytics analyst Ed Jurkevics, who follows the satellite imagery firms. “It’s fairly logical that satellite firms like GeoEye would want to extend their reach into the aerial space.”

melissa.frederick@dcexaminer.com