ThingWorx, the four-year-old “Internet of Things” company in Exton, Pa., was acquired for about $112 million by PTC, a publicly-traded product technology company based in the suburbs of Boston, according to a release. The deal also calls for up to $18 million for ThingWorx and its investors, depending on the company’s performance post-acquisition.
ThingWorx’s roughly 50 employees will all remain in Exton, said ThingWorx through a spokeswoman, and the company will continue to hire.
It’s another exit for Russ Fadel, who founded ThingWorx like he did Lighthammer, the manufacturing software maker he sold to SAP in 2005. The 1982 Duke University graduate has founded other companies in the past.
Safeguard Scientifics, which invested in the company starting in 2011, expects to receive $40.5 million in the deal, amounting to a 4x return, as well as a potential $6.5 million, according to a release. Read this 2012 Q&A Fadel did for the Safeguard blog.
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