From Atrium to Zettapoint: New England Firms Swept Up by Getinge, EMC, and HuffPo

Here a merger, there a merger, everywhere a merger merger… Some small, medium, and large acquisition news today around New England.

—Localocracy, a Boston-based online town common and community platform, has been acquired by the Huffington Post Media Group and will join the AOL (NYSE: [[ticker:AOL]]) content unit. The news was first reported by All Things D, which said the deal price was less than $1 million. Localocracy is a finalist in the MassChallenge startup accelerator program.

—Zettapoint, a database management firm based in Concord, MA, and Israel, has been acquired by Hopkinton, MA-based data storage giant EMC (NYSE: [[ticker:EMC]]) for an undisclosed sum. Israel-based news site Globes, which first reported the deal, puts the price at around $10 million and says Zettapoint’s 15 employees will join EMC Israel. (EMC has an R&D center in Beersheva.) Xconomy reported on EMC’s broader acquisition strategy and plans for growth last fall.

—Atrium Medical, a Hudson, NH-based maker of medical devices for cardiology and radiology, said today it is being acquired by Swedish giant Getinge Group (STO: GETIB) for $680 million. Atrium says it will operate as an independent business unit of Maquet Cardiovascular, a Getinge subsidiary, and will be led by current Atrium president Trevor Carlton. The deal is expected to close later this quarter. Atrium was founded in 1981 and has made a name for itself in healthcare device areas such as catheters, artificial heart components, and soft tissue repair.

Author: Gregory T. Huang

Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003. Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.