PAR “confident” that purchase of 3M unit will add to workforce

NEW HARTFORD — ParTech Inc. of New Hartford is still trying to estimate its staffing requirements once it finalizes its deal to acquire 3M’s drive-thru communications business.

“We are confident that there will be added positions to our current workforce,” Christopher Byrnes, VP for business development & financial relations at PAR Technology Corp. (NYSE: PAR), told CNYBJ in a Sept. 6 email. He didn’t provide a number.

ParTech, a subsidiary of PAR Technology, on Sept. 4 announced that it has agreed to acquire the assets of 3M’s drive-thru communications systems business. 

The acquisition cost is $7 million, according to a PAR Technology filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The company expects the deal to close on Sept. 30.

Maplewood, Minnesota–based 3M (NYSE: MMM) specializes in drive-thru communications for restaurants. Its products include wireless headsets for order taking in the drive thru that includes the XT-1 and G5 headset systems. The acquisition deal also includes contracts and intellectual property associated with the business, per the SEC filing.

3M’s drive-thru communication portfolio will “strategically” expand ParTech’s restaurant-technology product to offer a complete, end-to-end order-taking system, the Mohawk Valley company said. It includes Brink POS (point of sale) software and EverServ hardware platforms.

“As we continue the transformation of both our hardware and software businesses, we believe our acquisition of the assets of 3M’s drive-thru business will immediately diversify our cyclical-hardware business with a high margin and high quality product line, providing strong cash flow and a much larger share of the restaurant-technology stack,” Savneet Singh, president and CEO of PAR Technology, said in a company news release “The wireless-headset communication portfolio is an attractive bolt-on, that effectively leverages our current infrastructure with minimal incremental investment. This portfolio will increase our footprint and wallet share in the restaurant, that in turn will accelerate stronger lead generation for our Brink POS cloud offering. In addition, we believe this acquisition will be financially accretive day 1, well before any synergies are instituted, and diversifies our core business from the cyclicality of our traditional POS buying cycle.”

PAR Technology is a provider of software, systems, and service products for the restaurant and retail industries. It deploys point-of-sale systems in nearly 100,000 restaurants in over 110 countries. PAR’s government business provides intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance products, as well as mission-systems support to the U.S. Department of Defense and other federal agencies.