Burnsville weather-analytics company bolsters agricultural business with $12M acquisition

Burnsville-based DTN is bolstering its weather products for agriculture with a $12 million acquisition.

The bolt-on acquisition of Iteris Inc.'s ClearAg product line is DTN's seventh purchase since 2018 to build out its suite of weather forecasting and data information services. The company, backed by Switzerland-based private venture-capital firm TBG AG, also provides forecasting services to the oil and gas industry, among others.

The latest deal includes technology that provides field-level data on weather, soil conditions and crop health for precision agricultural applications.

"ClearAg is a global leader, offering best-in-class solutions for customers throughout the agriculture supply chain," said DTN's CEO Steve Matthesen in a release. "We will leverage their predictive agronomic insights to further drive value with our agribusiness and individual producer customers."

In addition, the two companies agreed to pursue new opportunities in the global-transportation market together.

DTN, which has about 1,200 employees, will add 50 more in the transaction.

Last month, DTN offered its severe-weather forecasting services for free to hospitals and health care systems managing COVID-19 responses so they could better manage physical and human resources in anticipation of severe weather events. So far, 16 health care organizations across the country have taken up DTN's Weather Sentry service.