YARMOUTH, Maine — Swiss-based Garmin Ltd. is buying DeLorme, a Maine-based producer of maps and hand-held satellite communications devices.
Garmin said Thursday that DeLorme will operate as a research and development facility and most of its 92 workers will be retained.
Under the deal, DeLorme will continue producing its state-specific "Atlas and Gazetteer" series but will close its map store. The company’s lobby, which features a 42-foot-tall rotating globe dubbed "Eartha," will remain open to the public.
The deal is expected to close in 30 to 60 days. Terms were not disclosed.
DeLorme was an early pioneer of global positional system technology, and its products include hand-held, two-way satellite communication devices that work anywhere in the world, allowing users to trigger an SOS and to send and receive text messages via satellite.