By RTN Staff - 9.5.2019
Asking drive-thru customers to repeat themselves because of poor sound quality can lead to delays, incorrect orders and mounting frustrations. Restaurants need to protect their reputation for customer service while improving operational efficiency with the clear sound and reliability of drive-thru headset and intercom systems.
One of the leading providers of these systems is Maplewood, Minnesota–based 3M, which 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. Today ParTech of New Hartford, a subsidiary of PAR Technology Corp., 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) with expected acquisition closing date of September 30. The acquisition deal also includes contracts and intellectual property associated with the business, per the SEC filing.
According to a company statement, 3M’s drive-thru communication portfolio will expand ParTech’s restaurant-technology product to offer what it describes as a complete, end-to-end order-taking system. This portfolio includes Brink POS (point of sale) software and EverServ hardware platforms.
“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.”
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. Last month, the company reported that its second quarter performance included 764 new customer deployments on Brink POS and a 40% increase in SaaS revenues from last year’s second quarter.
